The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.” vss. 1-3
Psalm 23
When Samuel’s one-person pastoral search committee led him to select the boy-shepherd, David, as the next king of Israel, he established a job description for godly leaders that will persist for all time. The prophets regularly described the kings of Israel as shepherds and castigated them when they allowed the sheep to stray. When Jesus spoke of his mission, he readily adopted the shepherding terminology and even called himself “the Good Shepherd.” The earliest artistic renderings of Jesus found on the walls of ancient catacombs show him as a shepherd carrying a sheep. The very word “pastor” comes from the Latin word for shepherd and implies that the role of a pastor in a congregation will involve shepherding the members. Indeed, that is what people are expecting when they call someone to be their pastor. Not only is it a calling with a long and storied history going back even beyond David, it mirrors the mission of Jesus and carries with it huge responsibilities. Obviously, no pastor can be perfect, but people do sense when their pastor has a shepherd’s heart. Huge blessings come to a congregation when their pastor is a servant leader and is a caring, compassionate, and gentle guide through the sunny and the shadowy days of life!
Thought for the Day: How have my pastors been a blessing to me?
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