Have you ever wondered why God used so many shepherds in the Bible? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his twelve sons all herded flocks. It was the family business. Moses, too, became a shepherd. The prophet Amos took care of sheep until God called him to preach. Then there was David. In his own work of caring for sheep, David saw God's work of caring for his people, including David himself.
I saw the list of leading job opportunities for the future yesterday. Somehow shepherd did not make the list. Jobs in medicine and technology look to lead the way forward. Who really needs a shepherd these days? You do. So do I. As God provides for the deepest needs of our souls, we find that we are not always wanting. In fact some of our constant buying and spending may reveal a lack of contentment in Christ himself. Is God enough for us? If he is not, then we will always be searching to satisfy the emptiness we feel.
Our Shepherd gives us what we need. Green pastures will feed us. Another great need is rest. As we endure the exhaustion we have allowed to happen to us, sometimes God makes us lie down in green pastures. What image comes to mind when you read that? I think of the verdant fields outside the village of Schrollbach, Germany. There in childhood, my brother Dan and I roamed the fields and passed by the sheep pens. Sometimes we just lay down on a hillside and looked up at the clouds decorating the blue sky with different shapes. In the quiet, our souls were being formed.
Not only does our Shepherd feed us what we need to grow, but he leads us everywhere we go. If we will follow, our God will lead us beside quiet streams. Our busy schedules more often resemble roaring rivers which seem impossible to cross. One slip and we feel that we will be washed away. But the life of intimacy with God is more like walking beside a crystal clear stream glimmering in the sunlight. Beside a quiet stream we do not have to strain to hear the one Voice we must hear. Listen closely today as you follow your Shepherd. I am sure he is saying something to you. What was that?