Shattering Toxic Beliefs And Discovering The Real Youنموونە

Jerusha Clark:  Shattering Toxic Beliefs and Discovering the Real You  Devotional Day 7

The Good Shepherd

Scripture: John 10:11

Shepherds in the ancient Middle East rarely used undershepherds nor sheepdogs. Instead, they raised bellwether sheep. These chosen lambs were treated as tenderly as family, reared in intimate closeness to the shepherd and guarded as his very own. The shepherd eventually released one or more mature bellwethers to go out into the pasture and bring any stragglers back. The bellwether sheep knew how good it was to be near to the master. They were trained to bring their fellow sheep back so they could experience his goodness too. 

The spiritual parallel is not difficult to draw. As you grow closer to Jesus, you are simultaneously kept near and sent out, just like a bellwether. Your intimate closeness with the Shepherd is the sustenance you need. You then go out and do his bidding, returning to him to be filled and cared for once again.

Bellwether sheep don’t stay out perpetually, nor are they ultimately responsible for the other sheep. That is the shepherd’s job. He wants his treasured ones to be safe, well fed, and near to him, not just do things for him. He trusts the bellwethers to return because they know where life is found. 

Too often we feel we need to be “out” at all times, busily working for God. We forget that being near to Jesus is the only thing we are required to choose. Everything else—all that we are or do “on the outside”—is up to and about him.

I pray that as you embrace your true identity in the Great I AM, you will stay so close to the Good Shepherd that you know when it’s his will that you go out. If you do, you can venture into this world with complete confidence and freedom, knowing it’s not all up to you.

At the same time, you get to participate in God’s glorious work! Like a bellwether, you get to bring in the hurting and lost, helping them find the way, reminding them of their identity as God’s beloved. You, as one of God’s chosen ones, a daughter who knows her own belovedness, can now lead others and show them the beauty of knowing God loves every piece of who they are.

In what ways can you draw close to God as your Shepherd today? In what ways might he be calling you out to participate in his work?