In this New Year, I pray for people to desire and crave God more. Not just for beneficial reasons but because you love Him and you willingly seek to know Him and do His will. On last night, God was dealing with me on sheep and shepherds. This is a subject I’ve touched on before but whether you know this or not, you as sheep need a shepherd. Here’s where I think the problem is. We go to a church with incorrect thinking of what the pastor’s responsibility is. The pastor is the shepherd and his/her responsibility is to strengthen the weak by providing sound teaching (nourishment), seeking those sheep who have gone astray, bandaging those who have been wounded in the wild and protect the sheep under their care. A shepherd doesn’t have to call you on your birthday, come to your housewarming party and shout you out on social media or respond to all 24 of your inbox/text messages. This is why you, I mean sheep, have to stop being so easily offended when the pastor doesn’t do what you think they should, causing you to run. When you run you, the sheep, leave yourself open to being wounded as prey. Here’s your blessing though. A good shepherd will go look for the one who strays. You want to know why? The shepherd is the one who will bandage your wounds and protect you from the wild because you’ll be too weak to fight on your own.
A good shepherd is one you follow because it’s not his voice you hear but that of God. A good shepherd is willing to stay up at night praying for you because they see a wolf approaching in the spirit that you haven’t seen yet. A good shepherd gives wisdom. But let me ask this … What are you doing as sheep? Are you being led astray because you don’t know the voice of your shepherd? Are you a wild sheep who doesn’t need a shepherd because you never settle down or are you a domestic sheep who requires the care of a shepherd? Are you a wild sheep who search for food, eating and digesting anything or a domestic sheep who is fed by their shepherd, the nourishment needed? Beloved, sheep needs shepherds because a sheep who is not properly cared for tends to carry too much weight which then leads to internal issues that keeps them from growing, infected feet that keeps them from walking, inflamed knees that keeps them from kneeling and the inability to care for the very thing(s) they birth. Sheep need shepherds unless you like being wild and wandering alone but how has that worked for you? It’s not too late, for you can pray like Psalm 119:176, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.”
Lakisha, the Author 