The devotional - 1014 - Shepherding in the Wisdom fo God

The Devotional – 1014 – Shepherding in the Wisdom of God

A few seasons ago, when my hair was not so grey I was in Scotland. Another sailor and I were on our way to a church we had heard of and we past a field where many sheep were grazing. A sign on the fence that kept the sheep from wondering off read. “Do not worry the sheep!” so when we got to the church we asked the pastor just what the sign meant. He said, “If the sheep are worried by hearing a voice they do not know, the production of wool will decrease and those who own the sheep will suffer a financial loss, by the way he continued; there is a hefty fine if one is caught worrying the sheep”. 

Comments and Challenges:

James 5:1-4

The apostle and half-brother of the LORD Jesus Christ is like a good friend, elder and teacher. I enjoy reading this epistle in that for me it is like sitting in a parlor near the warmth of an open fireplace and being comforted with words of hope from someone who as he says in verse one of chapter five is; an eye witness of the sufferings of Christ. He also adds that he is a partaker of the glory that will be revealed, these are encouraging words of HOPE for anyone who reads and studies the Holy Scripture.

The labor of ministry in any local church is a heavy burden for any pastor, the weight of the sin in any congregation is in his face continually. Not only should a pastor find the comfort of a good friend and elder like the epistle of James to read; but too, he should be able to have a friend or two in the local assembly. The overseeing pastor is willingly busy with the personal matters of his flock, thus his friends ought to be willingly busy to comfort him and to lifting him up in prayer. 

The eagerness of any pastor can fade if he is not ministered to by the other elders within the congregation. While the pastor is not a “lord” or “master” over the congregation he is the leading shepherd and overseer. Thus he is responsible to keep his flock “worry free” he does so by leading them by example, the example of first trusting in the Great Shepherd of the sheep, the LORD Jesus himself and not for the dishonest gain of popularity, position or profit. Sadly many churches today suffer from pastors who lead for all the wrong “P’s”. 

Those who shepherd for the moment in time may receive the sum of pay that in time will perish with the temporal things of the world like the treasure found in Matthew 6:19. These have their reward, but those who are eagerly waiting for the Chief Shepherd to appear are like those that Isaiah writes about in Isaiah 40:31. “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint”. These are the ones who have laid up their treasure in heaven. Matthew 6:20-21.