Of sheep and shepherds…

Our fourth week for the Revealed series at FCC was “The Good Shepherd”.

Based on John 10:1-18, Pastor Brian gave us a great teaching on this passage while using other Scripture passages to help us understand that we are….

sheep…

not very noteworthy, not too bright, prone to wander, messy, stubborn and defenseless…

sheep.

And how Jesus is the Good Shepherd…

who tends us, searches us out when we are lost, transforms our hearts to be yielded, protects us from harm…especially from…

The Thief…

who is Satan…

God’s enemy and thus our enemy…

who comes only to kill….

to steal….

to destroy

This was good and encouraging reinforcement of things I have learned and studied.

I need refreshers on a regular basis.

Remember…I am a sheep…

prone to wander/not too bright/stubborn.

But then I got my little paws stepped on. Or hooves or whatever sheep use to wander away on.

Because he also taught about the Hired Hand that is in this passage.

He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. John 10:13-14 NASB

Another translation refers to the fact that the hired hand is “only in it for the money.” MSG

I have always thought of this being a reference to false teachers…or pharisees…or whatever else you want to make it to be that doesn’t get all personal like the sermon did today.

Because in his teaching, Brian pointed out that a sheep who is in the care of a hired hand might just find herself sold out and abandoned when trouble comes…and that hired hand is often not really a person after all…

He named things like our career, or physical appearance; maybe a relationship or even our family and kids, or our 401K…

typical things that I might be tempted to place my security and hope and value and trust in…

and how these are good things….

even blessings from God sometimes…

but if they are our everything or main thing…

and something goes awry with them…

are we left unprotected? Vulnerable? At risk of coming undone?

And if the answer is yes…

Then we have put our trust in a hired hand…not the One to whom we belong.

Not the One who laid down His life for us.

And sitting there in my chair, I felt a stab of conviction.

Because this little lamb has let some things define what makes for a secure pasture…

and some of those things are not doing well….

and I just may have needed a little tap from the Shepherd’s staff this morning to remind me where I place my trust.

Lent is a time for us to lift up our head and see where we have wandered…whether a little or a lot…it is a time to purposefully re-focus on listening for the voice of the Shepherd.

As Pastor Brian pointed out, if you are not hearing His voice it is for one of two reasons…either you do not belong to Him or you do belong to Him but you have stopped spending time with Him so that you can recognize His voice.

Dear one…if either of these describes you…I urge you TODAY to be purposeful in whatever steps are necessary to place yourself in the hands of the Lord.

If you came here today, trust me, God led you here.

If you have never received Him, do so…

Acknowledge that you are a sinner and that you have no way to be made right with God no matter how much good you do. Accept that Jesus Christ died for you and paid the penalty of death that should have been yours. Believe that He died and was buried, that He was Resurrected and that He rose to heaven where He lives to intercede for us before the Father and that He is coming back.

If you have received Him, but have wandered…lift your head. Your Shepherd has never abandoned you. Return to Him and to His loving care. Learn more about Him as He has revealed Himself through His Word. Return to Him and to the fold <3

Russ and I were blessed to go see the movie “Risen” later in the day. I highly recommend it. It is a beautiful and simple telling of an “everyman” and how the Resurrection impacted him.

For me personally, after feeling the tap of the rod earlier…what a sweet kindness from God to have received through this story on film a reminder of our Shepherd’s tender love for us…His sheep.

I hope you will support this powerful story while it is in theaters.

I also encourage you to listen to the sermon at the FCC website…and to examine your heart in light of hearing His word. Receive His correction along with His loving care.

You are precious to Him <3