What does a shepherd do? | 3

‘The LORD is my shepherd’ Psalm 23.1

If you live in a town or city, the notion of a shepherd may not mean much to you; you may not meet many shepherds in the course of your day! However, the concept of a shepherd is an analogy to which the Bible returns quite a few times. In a wonderful moment in John’s Gospel, Jesus refers to himself as the good shepherd (John 10.11).

Another key passage in the Bible for understanding the relevance of shepherds is Ezekiel 34. In this chapter, the leaders of the people are seen as bad shepherds and they stand in contrast to God, the ultimate good shepherd. The difference between their leadership and God’s shepherding is seen at the beginning of the chapter when they are compared to God in this way: “You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost” (Ezekiel 34.4). The stress here is that the bad shepherds did not undertake any of these duties, yet they are precisely the things that God does in our lives.

The Bible states that God is our shepherd, and Jesus reiterated this about himself. As you come to God today, consider him as your good shepherd. He loves to strengthen you when you are weak, heal you when you are sick, comfort you when you are bruised by life and bring you back when you have wandered.

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