December 7, 2022
Wednesday
Shepherds and the Good Shepherd
Ezekiel 34: 11-16
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
The story is told of a graduate of a top-tier, Ivy League college who took a vocational placement test. He was sure he would find himself suited for being a banker, doctor, lawyer, or executive of a huge corporation. When he read the results, to his embarrassed surprise, the test indicated he was best suited to be a shepherd.
A few thousand years earlier that could have been a badge of honor—it was normal for kings, priests, and other leaders to be referred to as shepherds. God certainly referred to the leaders of Israel that way (Ezekiel 34). But due to their failure to shepherd God’s people, He told them He Himself would become their Shepherd. How fitting, therefore, that the angels of heaven chose humble, Bethlehem shepherds as the recipients of the announcement of God’s incarnation on earth—the incarnation of the One who would become the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21).
A point to ponder…
Psalm 23 is a wonderful Christmas meditation—the image of the Lord as Shepherd of His sheep. If you belong to His flock, then He is leading and caring for you.
Read the Bible through in a year
Galatians 1-3
I love you!!!
© 2000-2022 B. Michael Goerlich