Our Good Shepherd
READ: John 10:11-18
My brother and I always hike together in the mountains. One day we went hiking and suddenly a storm came up. It was heavy rain and snow. All we saw was white everywhere. My brother found a little opening and put me in there and made sure that I was safe, and then he came in. A few hours later the snow cleared away and we walked down the mountain to my brother’s car and went home safely. He was protecting me from the wind, snow and rain.
What does being a “Good Shepherd” mean? Being kind, caring, or honest to people, or even being the most popular? In John 10:11, Jesus describes Himself to His listeners as being the Good Shepherd who “lays down his life for his sheep.” Nothing, not even ravaging cold, thieves, or wolves, would come between the Good Shepherd and His sheep. He would die for their protection.
Jesus came to sacrifice His own life for us. Just like my brother sacrificed his body to protect me from the cold, God took all our sins away. We can consider Him our protector, our Good Shepherd. He is with us at all times, good and even bad. John 10:15b says, “And I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Jesus will always be our Good Shepherd.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: What have you sacrificed for the sake of another? What is a Good Shepherd? Why do we need a Good Shepherd?
PRAYER SUGGESTIONS: Thank God for being our Good Shepherd. Thank Him for the forgiveness of sins. Pray for others who don’t realize who our Good Shepherd is and that they come to realize it’s JESUS.