I Once Was Lost, but Now Am Found

READ: Ezekiel 34:11-16

I spent seven years as a lost sheep. Separated from the flock of the Lord’s people and from the Good Shepherd himself, I wandered through life alone. I was very self-reliant then. Proud too. I pushed people away, refused help, and tried to make it on my own. I failed miserably.

When my Shepherd found me, I was deeply broken. I had no friends. I had wounded my family through years of rebellion and separation. I was dissatisfied with every worldly treasure. My life felt meaningless, and I had little hope for the future.

“I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy,” promises the Lord. (Ezekiel 34:16)

I used to think I was sleek and strong -- I was doomed to destruction. But when I encountered the Good Shepherd, I realized that I was weak and injured and that he wanted to heal me. All he needed was my submission.

The Good Shepherd changed my life. I have friends now. Real friends. Friends that accept me for who I am and genuinely care about me. My relationship with my family is being restored. I am filled with hope and satisfied with the provisions the Good Shepherd makes for me each day.

Sometimes I still wander … drift away on the path of pride or self-reliance or solitude. But the Good Shepherd chases me, catches me, and carries me back home, to the good pasture of life with his people, life in his care. He is true to who he says he is and what he says he will do. As it is written in Proverbs (and quoted in 1 Peter and James), “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

The Shepherd rescues His sheep

14 December 

Scripture Reading

Read Ezekiel 34:11-16 and reflect on the passage.

Ezekiel tells us the Lord was a shepherd to Israel. The shepherd imagery is pervasive throughout Scripture. Jesus clearly takes the shepherd mantle and twice in John chapter 10 declares, “I am the Good Shepherd.”

What makes this imagery so fitting? First, sheep are not known for their ferocity, foresight, and intellect. They need constant help. Second, the shepherd provides all the sheep need. A lot of people can see themselves as a sheep. They are determined as the old song says gloriously, “I did it my way.” (Two-year-olds say that sort of thing too. More like an emphatic, “I do it.”) But, there is a fundamental problem for even the greatest and seemingly most self-sufficient—mortality seems to get in the way. Sooner or later when that inevitable last day comes, I’ve heard it said that no one has ever had a U-haul hitched to their hearse to take it all with them. Neither will anyone stand at the “pearly gates” declaring their greatness and demand a golden penthouse.

Can you see the foolishness in believing in your self-sufficiency? The shepherd is right there calling you to come—follow Him. Only He can provide you all you need now and forever.

Questions

1.      The good shepherd will call out to you. What are things you can do to more clearly hear His voice?

2.      Are there any areas where you try to fill a need in your own power or turn to an idol to fill the need?

  

Prayer

Lord, You provide for all our needs. Let us trust You for our needs and not try to fill our needs in any illegitimate way.

—Lee Miller