Today's Scripture
Ezekiel 34:11-16 Safely Back Home
11 “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. 14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.16 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.
RJ's Devotion
What does the passage say?
V. 11-12 God promises to be the shepherd, who looks after the people and rescues them.
V. 13-14 God promises to lead them to a good pasture
V. 15-16 The image of the shepherd is a God who will actively search for the lost and weak.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
This Old Testament passage reminds us of Jesus saying that he is the good shepherd.
Think about the people of Israel, who heard this proclamation.
They were in slavery, thinking they were abandoned by God when in truth, they abandoned God first.
God says that God is the shepherd, who looks out and searches for the people, who strayed away.
Does this mean the same to us, today?
Some might think, ‘I am already found, not lost.’ That could be true.
But we also need to see our tendency to stray away from God, whenever we have an opportunity.
Then we will see the God who actively searches for us.
Okay, maybe we do not stray away, then does that exempt us from this passage?
No, we also have to see how God is calling for us to be part of the mission to seek and search for the lost.
The question is, ‘how actively are we searching?’
Prayer
Lord, thank you for being our good shepherd. Help us to see your love and grace, in our lives, so we will be able to share it with others.
In Christ name, we pray, AMEN.
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