What were the shepherds of Bethlehem doing?
They were "abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night". (Luke 2: 8)
They were keeping watch over their flock during the darkness.
They were protecting their sheep from the enemy that would enter in at the gate and scatter the flock, drive them away, or kill them.
Are we as believers also shepherds of the flocks?
We know that ministers and pastors are shepherds of flocks, but what about us as parents and grand-parents, single parents, or divorced parents? Are all of us part of the responsibility of keeping watch over our flocks by night, or during the darkness? For it is out of the darkness from where the enemy comes, not from the light.
Sheep are of great value to the shepherds because of their wool, and some shepherds have the same flocks for years and years, or until the sheep die.
Are our flocks of great value to us?
"Train up a child in the way in which he shall go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22: 6)
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6: 4)
Undoubtedly, all of us have made mistakes as shepherds of our flocks, and some of our sheep have gone astray. Some have found a different grazing ground, and these could be difficult to persuade to come back home. Some are angry while others feel abandoned, or even unloved. None of us are perfect and all of us make mistakes, just as shepherds of sheep make mistakes. But maybe we have learned from our past as shepherds of our flocks and are now trying to do better than we were when we were younger.
Shepherds abiding in the field, however, have a tough job keeping watch over their flocks by night, for the work of shepherds is never easy.
Because darkness sleeps by day and awakens by night, the scents and sounds of the darkness are always alluring to young sheep.
For in the darkness, entertainment and amusement never end until the sun arises, and young sheep can easily get addicted to fun and thereby believe that they must sleep by day while others in the flock are out working to gather the harvest. Of course they are tired because they have been playing all night!
By day, moreover, the flocks can easily drift apart and trouble finds them when they lose the sound of their master's voice. One was attracted to the aroma of flowers along the road, was unaware of a wooded area, and was eaten by a bear. Another little guy, with sleep still in his eyes, stumbled on some rocks, tumbled down a cliff and drowned in a pond.
We must remember that young sheep make choices, too.
For example, when Billy began to think like a kid, he began to behave like a goat. By his thirteenth year, the rod and the staff were no longer a comfort to him, and he thought his shepherds were unreasonable and unfair. By his fifteenth year, he was attracted to rose bushes before the season, the thorns did not bother him, and later on he became a shepherd of his own with a ewe he never knew.
In closing, let us remember that, as earthly shepherds, we also need the Good Shepherd in our lives to help us to mend our fences, correct our mistakes, and to lead us beside the still waters as we get out on the straight and narrow that leads to the table that is set before us.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
They were "abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night". (Luke 2: 8)
They were keeping watch over their flock during the darkness.
They were protecting their sheep from the enemy that would enter in at the gate and scatter the flock, drive them away, or kill them.
Are we as believers also shepherds of the flocks?
We know that ministers and pastors are shepherds of flocks, but what about us as parents and grand-parents, single parents, or divorced parents? Are all of us part of the responsibility of keeping watch over our flocks by night, or during the darkness? For it is out of the darkness from where the enemy comes, not from the light.
Sheep are of great value to the shepherds because of their wool, and some shepherds have the same flocks for years and years, or until the sheep die.
Are our flocks of great value to us?
"Train up a child in the way in which he shall go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22: 6)
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." (Ephesians 6: 4)
Undoubtedly, all of us have made mistakes as shepherds of our flocks, and some of our sheep have gone astray. Some have found a different grazing ground, and these could be difficult to persuade to come back home. Some are angry while others feel abandoned, or even unloved. None of us are perfect and all of us make mistakes, just as shepherds of sheep make mistakes. But maybe we have learned from our past as shepherds of our flocks and are now trying to do better than we were when we were younger.
Shepherds abiding in the field, however, have a tough job keeping watch over their flocks by night, for the work of shepherds is never easy.
Because darkness sleeps by day and awakens by night, the scents and sounds of the darkness are always alluring to young sheep.
For in the darkness, entertainment and amusement never end until the sun arises, and young sheep can easily get addicted to fun and thereby believe that they must sleep by day while others in the flock are out working to gather the harvest. Of course they are tired because they have been playing all night!
By day, moreover, the flocks can easily drift apart and trouble finds them when they lose the sound of their master's voice. One was attracted to the aroma of flowers along the road, was unaware of a wooded area, and was eaten by a bear. Another little guy, with sleep still in his eyes, stumbled on some rocks, tumbled down a cliff and drowned in a pond.
We must remember that young sheep make choices, too.
For example, when Billy began to think like a kid, he began to behave like a goat. By his thirteenth year, the rod and the staff were no longer a comfort to him, and he thought his shepherds were unreasonable and unfair. By his fifteenth year, he was attracted to rose bushes before the season, the thorns did not bother him, and later on he became a shepherd of his own with a ewe he never knew.
In closing, let us remember that, as earthly shepherds, we also need the Good Shepherd in our lives to help us to mend our fences, correct our mistakes, and to lead us beside the still waters as we get out on the straight and narrow that leads to the table that is set before us.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you today.
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