Monday, December 7, 2015

Be a Good Shepherd

“‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. Ezekiel 34
There’s a lot of positive talk in the Bible about being a good shepherd and that Christ is the good shepherd, but what about the bad shepherds? Surely there are some bad in the lot of all shepherds. Well, God says that those shepherds will be held accountable for their actions (or lack of actions) towards the flock.
I’ve mentioned before that I mentor a group of young women, and every year, I have to remind a few of them that when the become leaders within the group, they need to hold themselves to a higher standard of accountability than the rest of the group. It’s often forgotten about, not just with them, but with many leaders.
There’s a tendency when people reach a higher level of responsibility to slack off, and to skirt the rules. God makes it clear that this is not his intention for his own people. His intention is for the shepherds to care for their flocks, not to sit on their laurels.
Everyone is a leader in one form or another. You may not think of yourself as a leader, but someone else looks to you. I’m going through a study guide about disciple-making, and it’s the first book that details the spiritual ages people go through. I’ve heard the term spiritual infant used many times, but this book also discusses spiritual children, adolescents and adults. Even if you fall into the children or adolescent stage, there are still spiritual infants and even the spiritually dead who may see you in a leadership role. Make sure that you are taking care of the flock, no matter what your role is.

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