Day 11- The Good Shepherd

" I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."

     Sheep are animals easy to herd. They respond to the call and love of a shepherd. Even as he was called the Lamb of God so we, his disciples, are called his sheep. Sheep don't need a whip, or a horse, or a truck to drive them. 

By Gabriele Burgess

      "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep."

    Jesus was not hired to get the job done. He willingly became the good shepherd. One who is committed to care, to truth, to leading us back to our Father. He knows all his sheep. He carries them upon his back when they are wounded. He seeks for them when they are lost. He rejoices with them when they successfully come home every night.

     

     "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep."

                                                                     John 10:11-15 

  Of the many names and titles Jesus was given, The Good Shepherd is one he used himself to explain his mission and to explain his commitment. The Jewish leaders should have shepherded their flock with the same zeal, but they had lost their way. They were responding more like a hireling. Do I heed his call? Do I check in every morning and night to listen to his voice so that he knows I am safely in his fold? 

Here are twenty-four names of Christ and twenty-four days until Christmas. Check back here to find the contents page of this series.