Continuing, Pastor Kyle has five truths about the Good Shepherd. (1) Our Good Shepherd makes sure that His sheep are never left wanting. God will not cast your true needs aside. The Good Lord knows what we are going through always and satisfies our needs that, “I shall not want”. This sounds counter-intuitive in our culture because, in our flesh on this side of heaven, we have an appetite, desires and needs all the time. We want more money, more influence, more control, more appreciation, more health, more love, and more. When we think about our lives, there is always something new tempting our desires.
But, the “unwanting” life is the life of the child of God (Jehovah Jireh) and disciple of Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd. In realizing that the Lord Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd of care, provision and protection, is the growing awareness that we have everything we need. In Luke 12:15, Jesus said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” Our value does not come from who we are or what we have; our value comes from whose we are and the life that we lead in response to the Lord.
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”
What the real problem, as Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, is that we love the things of the world. There are somethings sensational and stimulating to our senses and emotions, but they are never ultimately and finally satisfying. You see something, you want it, you get it, then tomorrow you are hungry for something else … that is the reality of this world. How is possible to not want? We may not get to the “unwanting” state that Jesus desires until we get to Heaven, but it is a process of wanting less and less, while trust the Lord more and more daily. Yet, because the Lord is our Good Shepherd, we will never be left wanting. Remember that Jesus laid down His life for us, so that we could be saved. The hope of the Christian life is that the Good Shepherd will lead us into the heavenly pastures of our eternal home when the sun sets on this one. God Himself is our provision and is more than enough to satisfy anything that we could want or need as long as we are under God’s protective covering, living in repentant, submissive obedience and a member of the body of Christ.
(2) The Good Shepherd makes His sheep lie down. There are certain things in life that we have to be forced to do, or else we will never grow to do them. God makes us do specific things in order to reach greener pastures in life. The Lord may force us to stop and take a rest or stay in one spot to take spiritual nourishment in one particular fruitful location and restore our soul. We are ultimately dependent on the Good Shepherd for everything. Psalm 34:8 “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” – In God We Trust.
(3) The Good Shepherd leads His sheep beside still waters to drink. The flock naturally fears running water, so shepherds look past their sheep’s shortcomings and irrational fears to so they can get what they need to survive. He provides the watering hole when we thirst. God makes accommodations for us behind the scenes all the time and we don’t even see or know. God meets us where we are at, but He will not leave us where we are at … He will lovingly lead us.
(4) The Good Shepherd leads His sheep on the “right” path and stays extra close to them in the treacherous valleys of life. Sheep are prone to wonder, which can put them into harm’s way so, God will put the “right” thing right in front of us. He will not make it complicated, difficult to figure out, or confusing. God’s will for our life is not hard to discern, but very obvious in His Word, His Will and His Way; we just need to observe it, absorb it and obey it. The option of obedience of taking the path of righteousness or the disobedience of taking the path of rebellious selfish pride will always be in front of us. Our worldly culture and our sin nature feelings can tempt and betray us into doing the “wrong” thing. When we incline ourselves to do the “right” thing that the Good Shepherd puts in front of us, that when we can know for sure that when we are in that “valley of the shadow of death”, then He is right there with us because He led us to it to lead us through it with His protection. We can go through those valleys without fear because our Shepherd is right beside us.
(5) The Good Shepherd disciplines His sheep when they need it. Proverbs 13:24 tells us, “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.” We often think of God’s discipline as negative, but the correction of the Lord is gentle, redirective and protective with the intent of restoring us back to an upright position in the proper place. Proverbs 3:11-12explains, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.” And Hebrews 12:6 confirms, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”
Isaiah 53:5-6 “He [Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Remember that God doesn’t discipline His children to punish them. God laid the punishment for sin upon Jesus on the Cross. The “fear of the Lord” is not trepidation for the Christian but reverential concern of disappointing our heavenly Father; our just and holy God. We are to find comfort in the reality that we serve a Good Shepherd who loves and cares for His flock, leading, providing and protecting us, so that we have everything we need, at any moment in our lives. Let me remind you that you have every key to succeed in your life in your hands. The Good Shepherd will never leave us wanting in this life or on the eternity shores of Heaven.
In Christ, Brian
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