The work and life of the Shepherd God

Maybe by now we are actually wondering who is this Jesus? We are invited to come and see. You heard that he gave up his life on a cross, that he suffered and died yet he lives. How is that possible? Come and see. Where does he get the power and authority from to do the great things that he does? Why don’t you come and see! You have heard that if we believe we can live forever. How can God manage that? You need to come and see.

God provides life as God intends for it to be – his plan and his creation. And there are those who are skeptical about that; words leave them cold. That is why it is so very important that we do the things we need to do that show what we believe as well as saying the words that need to be said. After all it has been said that no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care. Believing is more than just what you know in your head – you show what you believe by the things that you do. Orthodoxy and orthopraxy go together and in glove.

God provides for life – as he needs it to be for our sakes. There are forces that act upon us: greed and covetousness, sin and death. He knows that we need food and so he provides both table and food. He knows that we need to drink and so he provides not only the cup but the drink as well. He knows that we need purpose and direction and so he provides us a path to walk and a life to live that we might, in the living of it, give him honour and glory. God gives because he desires us to be with him forever.  That is what makes him my shepherd! He provides for me, feeds me and gives me drink. He guides me in the paths of life and keeps me secure even when I walk through the “Valley of the shadow of something like Death”.

Thus life needs to be regarded as a gift and not as an achievement. We need to live lives that are full of infectious gratitude not ridiculous greed. We need to be content with our lives and free to be without. Instead of being consumers we are free to give and to offer whatever it is that God has put into our hands to offer to anther that they might live in the same way.  Moreover we need to recognize that we are forever pursued and sought by God’s goodness and mercy – every single day of life and ministry God seeks us out and calls us and leads us.  

Let us be open to hear the voice of Him who is the Good Shepherd as he calls us to follow him into paths of righteousness – in to the path of life eternal. And let us be free with God’s goodness and mercy to those who need us to shepherd them to food drink and security.