During 2025, Peachtree Church is focusing on the Book of Psalms with a series called Dwell, through which we seek to deepen our conversation with God and open ourselves to hearing his response. The practice of praying three times each day will unite the voices of our hearts and souls as we seek the day when we will see the full realization of the Kingdom of God, promised in Revelation 21:3: “…Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
We will email devotionals twice weekly with Monday’s providing an overview of the Psalm as a whole, and Wednesday’s focused on that week’s Daily Dwell.
Know that the Lord is God.
Psalm 100:3
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Devotional
A number of years ago, I was officiating a funeral for a gentleman who had a time in his life when he had decided that he wanted to be a shepherd. He found a farm that was looking for someone to fill that role, traveled out there, and began to work. He lasted about a week. He found out a truth that had been lost to him in his romanticized view of being a shepherd. It’s a truth that I struggle with anytime I read in Scripture that we are God’s sheep or He is our Shepherd: sheep are stupid!
I don’t like to admit that if we are the sheep of His pasture, then we are in fact sheep. That means that we do not act in the ways that God desires. But then I tend to have that “other side of the coin” realization and reminder that our Shepherd will provide for us, will take care of us, will lead us on the level paths to where we should go.
There is a deeper aspect to this idea, one that I remember one of the children of the “want-to-be shepherd” describing to me when we met to plan her father’s funeral. Shepherds must love their sheep to the point of being willing to put themselves in harm’s way to care for them. When we say that “we are the sheep of His pasture,” we are being reminded that God is our Shepherd. It is He who loves us more than we can ever understand. It is our Lord who is the one who created us each in His own image. And He did something even greater to show His love.
From the very beginning, God sought to show us His goodness, to lead all of humanity into being in right relationship with Him, and ultimately, when no other way could work to bring us into His herd in the right way, He took on human flesh. The Word became flesh and dwelt with us. Jesus laid down His life on our behalf that we would be made whole, that we would be able to be a part of the family of God forever.
For Reflection
- What does it mean to you to know that you are a sheep of the Lord’s pasture?
- How have you seen Jesus be the good shepherd in your own life? What has that meant to you?
Prayer
Lord God, you have laid down your life for each of us, and you have continued to call us toward you, to show us the way that we should live, not by following rules, but by seeking to draw near to you. Help us to desire to draw closer to you, to listen to your voice call to us in the midst of the frenetic pace of life, and help us to dwell with you. In Jesus’ name we pray; amen.
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Devotionals