“I will
search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and
strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will
shepherd the flock with justice.”
{Ezekiel 34:16} (NIV 1984)
This
seems to be an odd way to build a flock. Shepherds are accountable to the owner
of the flock. Jacob conspired to bring only the sleek and strong sheep into his
flock, and leave his father-in-law the weak and thin. (Genesis 30:42)
God reveals His plan for
His flock through His prophet Ezekiel. The shepherd will destroy the sleek and
the strong, but will bring the strays, the injured, and the weak into his
flock. This is a description of the good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. He
came to seek that which was lost. He came for the sick not for the healthy.
Friend, do you know the heart of the Shepherd, the heart of the Owner? Do you
realize that although being a stray, being injured and being weak, disqualifies you to
be in the flock of the world, it qualifies you in every way for God’s flock?
Receive His grace, go to the good Shepherd and seek comfort and healing. Then
say with Paul: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10) Praise God for His grace
that is sufficient for me.
This is going to seem unrelated...but I promise it isn't! I know someone who once tried to join the church of Scientology and he got turned away. (Thank God!) They don't accept people who have used narcotics in the last 5 years, and this friend had. And that made me think about how when the world creates a religion they only want the best of the best. Right? They trick movie stars into joining and supporting them, and they turn away the weak and broken who might make them look bad. But God calls the most broken of us to find hope in him! Any religion can make a decent man live a little better....but only Jesus Christ can turn a broken, hurting, frail person into a thriving child of Grace!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this encouraging reminder...I am so thankful that there is room in God's flock for misfits like me! :)
I am weak today yes and thankful His grace is there for me.
ReplyDelete