Thursday, November 5, 2009

Thurs.'s Devo - The Good Shepherd

Read John 10:1-18
I've read this parable of the sheepfold over and over and keep thinking I'm missing something. In the last chapter the Jews have accused Jesus of calling them blind and now he is implying that they are also deaf and not God's. Jesus gives us the analogy of a sheepfold. Interestingly sheep means one who walks forward. You can only enter the sheepfold legally through the door which is Jesus, but you can enter illegally by climbing up some other way. Some say there are many ways to God but if you don't come through Jesus you are the thief and the robber. This is where I get confused: you enter in by the door but the shepherd leads you out. That tells me that we get saved to go out. It is when we are "out" that we need to follow the sheperd and know his voice.
Jesus is the good shepherd but there is one that will try to lead us called the hireling. He will try to gather people to himself but when the wolf comes the heirling will only fend for himself. If we stay with Jesus, the good shepherd, he will lay down his life to save us. The thief's job is to steal, kill and destroy. Jesus came to give us abundant life. The wolf's job is to seize us and scatter us. Jesus' job is to bring us all into one fold.
Just like the godhead is a three-part entity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the enemy has three parts also: the devil, the false prophet, and the beast. (Rev. 20:10) I would think that in this parable the devil would be the thief and the robber, the false prophet would be the hireling that tries to deceive and the beast would be the wolf. The good news is that we are under the protection of the good shepherd and all we have to do is stay with him and do what he says and go where he says to go and we are totally safe.
Lord, may we never fear the enemy because you are our good shepherd.

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