Shepherd - Part 2
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd.” John 10:10-11
As we consider Jesus as our Good Shepherd, we see his best shepherding of us on the cross. By dying for our sins, he takes care of our hearts deepest need, the need for a savior and rescuer.
Just like sheep, we cannot save ourselves or take care of ourselves. We need help. When we meditate on Jesus as the Good Shepherd, we see the ways he gently cares for those he loves. We learn that he wants us to have life to the full.
From John 10 we see our shepherd caring for us in these ways:
- He saves us. (John 10:9) He gives us eternal life and saves us from wandering lost and alone.
- He protects us and secures us. (John 10:7-10) He is the door and gatekeeper of our lives. Nothing goes in or out of our lives without passing through him. He protects us and has our best interests in mind. Whatever our circumstances are, they are God’s best for us at that moment. Our finite minds can’t understand everything he does, but we trust who he tells us he is through his word. We have to look at the big picture of who he says he is and what he’s done. Then, we choose to trust what he says that “no one is able to snatch [us] out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:29).
- He satisfies us. (John 10:9) When we are hungry he provides food by giving us good pasture to feed on.
Through this passage, we see that our shepherd:
- is caring
- knows us intimately
- leads us
- plans for our best
- has authority
- treats us as his own
- sacrifices himself for the sake of those he loves and cares for.
We have a shepherd who looked at his sheep’s need and doubt and pitiful state and chose to become one of them. When we trust who he says he is, believing that he is good, we live in freedom.
Abundant life looks like: trusting God and his provisions, believing that he knows what’s best, freedom to run to him with our questions and concerns, freedom to fail because our identity is in him, freedom to give because everything is his anyway, and freedom to rest because he leads us to pastures that satisfy.