Tuesday, October 16, 2012

The Hireling & the Shepherd



John 10:9-15I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

I heard a presentation by Author and Christian comedian Ken Davis from an old CD that really challenged me to think about my faith, or lack of it, in boldly standing for and with the Lord in our Culture today, because of secular “political correctness” & “public opinion”. Mr. Davis asks us: “Have Christians today, learned to follow the hireling, instead of the Shepherd? Would the child of God let someone into their home that spoke like they do on television or in the movies today? Would you allow someone to come into your home who said: “I have some slide pictures to show you, bring your children to see? Then show you slides of their immorality, their sinful philosophy, their anti-God blasphemy, putting down the Lord and spitting in His face, mocking His name and that which is pure? Everyday, we are bombarded with this. The Bible states it correctly when it uses the imagery that we are just like sheep, when we blindly follow each other around and compromise our morality. We adapt to the customers and patterns of, not only the secular world system, but allow it to lead our church world away from the Lord Jesus, lying in the stench of the very sin that Christ died for. Why? The #1 excuse for not following Jesus Christ is: I’m afraid.” We are afraid more of what the world (the hireling) thinks of us, than what God (our Shepherd) cares about.

Matthew 9:36 But when He (Jesus) saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.

If we are afraid that we can not live up to God’s expectations, realize that is why Jesus came. When we claim the name of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, God begins to move in our lives, but we also find that Satan waits outside the door like a Lion or Wolf to attack the flock to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. We need our Good Shepherd. Have you heard skeptics claim that Christianity is a crutch? Well, in a way, it is because we are a generation crippled by sin, which needs the “Great Physician”. Without the Lord, we can only lie in our own disability and die, because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:21-23). We desperately need the Lord. The hard-hearted, God-rejecting world defiantly and rebelliously says: “Who needs God? I control my own life. I don’t need God. I am tough!” Good luck with that, as Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” We need to be driven to a daily, minute by minute relationship with our Shepherd Jesus, because we life in lawless world system, alluring the flesh, where Satan roars.

Psalm 23:1-3The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
This world is a scary place for a defenseless, unprotected sheep. There is a resolution also to the truth that there are heart-aches in this world that we bring. We, like sheep, need to recognize our desperate need of something other than what the sinful world can offer. We are disparate for the Good Shepherd. When the Lion attacks to steal, and to kill, and to destroy, we run, not away from the Lion, but to the Shepherd, driven to Him because we live in a world of sin, more deadly than any of us can face on our own. John 10:27-28My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” When we are in Christ, walking with the Spirit, aligned with God's perfect Word, Will and Way, we can say: “I’m with Him!” Romans 8:38-39For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Isaiah 53:5-6 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

In Christ, Brian

2 comments:

Undergroundpewster said...

"We are afraid more of what the world (the hireling) thinks of us, than what God (our Shepherd) cares about."

Putting sheep in the judgement seat, so true.

Brian Ray Todd said...

UD Pewster, There is certainly nothing wrong with being compared to as a sheep of the flock of the Lord. Some may say that "sheep are dumb animals". But the intent is the imagery of the Good Shepherd, who cares and provides for them, defends them with His life, and knows His sheep by name is truly comforting. His sheep knows Him and His voice, listen to His words, depend upon, follow and obey Him. The live & eternal question is: "Who do we trust and follow?" Man or God? Thanks for pointing that out.