Friday, June 8, 2012

The Wants of the Shepherd








Read It, Learn It, Live It, Share It with your friends

 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”            – Psalm 23:1

What do you want?  Come on, don’t be shy – we all want something.  If you were a Presidential candidate standing on a stage and had to give your speech on what you wanted in life, what would you say to the millions watching? Perhaps – World Peace, an end to hunger, a cure to cancer or a cure to AIDs, the list goes on of wonderful big dream desires that play well in any audience.  But, for many, it’s not just words on a script, memorized to say at just the right moment to win the hearts and votes of the masses.  We all want things in life, some are very important, most are superficial and materialistic.  I want to win the lottery.  I want to get a riding lawn mower.  You get my point.  Then there are the real wants in my life.  I want to have more free time with my wife and children.  I want to help under-privileged children get into college.  I want to coach baseball and help young men learn through sports about discipline, responsibility and teamwork.  I want to help my daughters find their purpose in life to live for Christ.  I want to help those in China that are seeking the freedom to worship Jesus Christ openly.  I want the media to be non-biased and stand up for what’s right and not just pander to those who throw the most money. I’d like to find a way to end abortions, divorce, gang violence and the proliferation of pornographic material to 9 year olds with a keyboard.

I can picture David setting on a boulder on the hillside overlooking a valley outside of Bethlehem.  I can picture him looking over his father’s sheep in the pasture and his mind becoming filled with the love of God the Father.  As he looked down upon the sheep that were left for him to care for, drawing a parallel to our relationship with God the Father came easy to him.  As he was the shepherd of this flock of sheep, he knew they relied on him for their comfort, their safety, their food, their water and their basic needs in life.  His mind would then wander to his own life, and how in his life he really has no control.  God oversees everything that lay before him and without the guidance of the Father’s love, his life would be aimless and without purpose.

God provides what we need, the real problem is we believe we need more than He has provided.  Just as the shepherd knows exactly where to take the sheep for the best grazing and what stream is flowing with the purest water, our Father in heaven knows exactly where we need to find our nourishment and our strength – in Him and Him alone.  The desires and wants that we allow to overwhelm our life for the most part are distractions from what He wants for us to do.  I have no doubt that the big things that break my heart, are the same things that break His heart.  But, this doesn’t mean that they are my challenges to solve.  He has placed you in the perfect place to do His work right where you are.  Use your time, talent and treasure for His glory and to help others come to know Him, and in doing so your wants will soon begin to align with His wants in your life.  Be blessed my friends.

© Sondove Enterprises, 2012
For more Daily Thoughts go to:
http://www.10minutereader.com

No comments:

Post a Comment