INTIMACY IN SHEPHERDING!

INTIMACY IN SHEPHERDING!

John 10:1-3

10 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.

2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

          I and my shepherd friends dream of a huge flock of adoring and applauding sheep. We dream of huge facilities manned by an army of loyal hirelings who perform every function except the weekly public sermon. But it is all a dream and not the model for the New Testament church.

          The New Testament model is that of Jesus sitting on a well’s edge talking to a tainted and tortured woman who had come for water. It is Paul at the riverside talking to a lady who had come to dye fabric. It is a slow but exponential growth that requires patience and intimacy in shepherding.

          Jesus is the model for shepherding. He is the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep. The shepherd knows his sheep by name because he has either been with them in birthing, untangled them from the briars, or pulled them from the mouths of beasts. He wears the dew of morning and feels the heat of noonday. He smells like sheep.

Oh, great Shepherd of my soul, thank you for your leading, feeding and love. AMEN