| J.R. Miller D.D. | Page 4 |
The Syrian shepherd loves his flock, and lives with them. He leads them out by day to find the patches of green pasture. By night he watches them, guarding them against prowling wild beasts and against robbers. Ofttimes he is wounded in defending them. When one sheep wanders, he leaves the flock, and seeks the lost one until he finds it. When one faints by the way, he gathers it in his arms, and carries it in his bosom. As we study the ways of the Eastern shepherd, we begin to see the beauty of the picture which the homely name gives to God who is our Shepherd.
“The Lord is my shepherd.” Little words are sometimes very important. Suppose you read it thus,”The Lord is a shepherd;” would it mean just the same to you? The name shepherd carries in itself all its wondrous revealing of love, tenderness, care, safety, providence, as a picture of God ; but what comfort is all this to you, so long as you cannot say, “The Lord is my shepherd”? Some poor children, passing a beautiful home, with its wealth and luxury, may admire it, and say, “What a lovely home!” But how much more it means to the children who dwell inside, who say, as they enjoy the good things in the house, “This is our home!”
It makes a great difference to me whether a good man is a worthy friend, or is my friend; whether God is a Father, or is my Father; whether Jesus is a wonderful Saviour, or is my Saviour; whether the Lord is a Shepherd, or is my Shepherd. The little pronoun “my” is the golden link which binds all this blessed revealing to me and makes it all mine own. The old preachers talked much about appropriating faith – that is, the faith which makes Christ and all the blessings of redemption our own. Jesus would be the Shepherd of every man. He invites all into his fold. He opens the gates to all. He gave his life for the world, and made redemption for all men. Appropriating faith claims the blessing for itself, accepts it, and makes it its own. It is a joyous moment when we can say, “Christ is mine, and I am his;” “The Lord is my shepherd.”
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