God is Our Shepherd
The purpose of this message is for us to learn to look at God not as someone whom we only serve, or someone who is hard to please, or someone who doesn’t care about us. It is my prayer that as we look at the pattern and hear the testimonies of God’s people in the past. We learn to see God as the one who greatly cares about us. God has loved us with an unconditional love throughout the ages and so many generations. We will be able to see how God sustains the every part of our lives that need sustaining and uplifting.
The testimony of God’s faithfulness belongs to David, the mighty king of Israel. I admired this man because he lived a very humble life as a young shepherd, the youngest son of Jesse. It never occurred to this young man that his humble beginning will lead him to awesome greatness. His secret was simple, He looked at God as not someone who doesn’t care but someone who is a daily part of his life. In his book of Psalms. David declared, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. David compared God to a shepherd, someone who can take care of the flock or livestock. This kind of occupation is one that is passed on from the father to the youngest son of the family. This means if you are the youngest son, you are stuck with not just work but life of being a shepherd. He was a shepherd of his father’s flock. A shepherd is always involved and so immersed with his duties as keeper of the of the livestock. That includes, always having a head count of every animal in the fold. This has to be done before going out to the field and before coming back at night. It involves leading the flock to a well pastured land with a good source of water. It includes watching the flock at night so that no predators can grab the animals at night.
God’s work in us is more tan just leading us to prosperity and abundance. It includes restoring our lives when we experience brokenness. God’s involvement in our lives leads us into a righteous path, and it brings confidence and strength into our well being, even in the presence of our enemies. Finally, God applies goodness and mercy into our sinful lives. It brings good conscience and justification in us as if we’ve never sinned at all. My friends, this is what God can do if you believe and allow Him in your life. He can be your Shepherd too. God bless you all.