This summer I was challenged with the question, “How do you see the Lord revealing himself?” As simple as this question may seem, it really started me thinking. I know He is the father of all and also our king, friend, and savior. But I did not know what it fully looked like for the Lord to be my shepherd.
This summer at Camp Rutledge with 100 high school students, we dove into the weight of these five words, “The Lord is my shepherd,” which we see at the start of Psalm 23. David proclaims that the Lord is his shepherd. Although this psalm is one many of us have read countless times, at Rutledge it spoke to me and challenged me in new ways. “Am I really listening to the Lord who is MY shepherd?” While it is one thing to know who He is, are we able to recognize His voice in the relationship?
He is the Lord, who is above all and before all things and calls His children “mine.” I had not truly realized the weight of the word “my.” Yes, He is the God who is above all things, and yet He calls each one of us into a personal relationship with Him. The question for each of us is, “Do I want to walk fully with Him as my shepherd through the valleys and mountains of life?” He is not only the God of all creation but also our loving Father, who calls us to follow Him just as sheep follow their shepherd.
The visual of a shepherd as he guides his flock into a land of green pasture out of a land that is dry and without life is the heart of the Gospel. We are all lost sheep who have gone astray because we think we know the way better. As wandering sheep, we choose our own ways to navigate life decisions, relationships, and situations. But because of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection, we can turn to Him as the ultimate shepherd “who lays down his life for His sheep.” (John 10:11) Each day we have the choice to let His voice and truth guide us. He is the only one who can sustain and lead us to that time of everlasting life when we will run in green pastures, rich in joy.
As followers of Jesus, we also are called to lay down our lives and shepherd others toward the gate of everlasting life. We are called to know His voice and believe what He says so that we can go out into our world of dry pastures and bring others to the land of abundant living through Jesus. Ours is the opportunity to join Christ daily in the restoration of all things, an invitation to turn dry pastures into flourishing ones.
I believe we are called to join Jesus in restoration here on earth. As we grow deeper in knowing Him, He will give us the strength we need to go out into the world and lead others to call upon His name. Jesus wants all of us to be a part of His body, one flock following one shepherd.