Aha! Gotcha, Sheep!

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?"' Ezekiel 34:2

"I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another. Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd." Ezekiel 34:22-23

No matter how "shepherdy" a pastor can be, none of our own work has any lasting value... only that which the One Shepherd does through us, with His Name on our heads. In this way, the shepherds after His heart and the One Shepherd are one in the same. When we act in our own strength, under our own banners, we might as well class ourselves with those who received such stern rebukes from the Lord.

I pulled over this morning and chatted with my new friend Jim for about 1/2 hour. This pasture isn't fenced, so he sits with the woolies while they eat breakfast, making sure they don't go out to the road. Last week he had what looked like a fishing line; I asked him about it, and he said it was a horse whip. The sound of it scares the sheep away from the road. "I don't bring it out when I have the chair, because they're just as afraid of the sound of the chair when I rattle it!"

Jim's a lifelong shepherd, working the farm his grandpa used to own. May we never get so itchy for adventure "out there" that we miss the adventure in our own back yards.

Oops, speaking of being itchy for adventure... there they go, trying to sneak past Jim while he's busy talking to me! I got back into my car while Jim strolled over to have a few words with his wayward "congregants."