Announcing the Good Shepherd

Tuesday, December 21

Announcing the Good Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

The story is told of a very prestige graduate who was destined for greatness at a top Ivy League college who took a vocational placement test. He was certain the results would reveal being suited for a broker, doctor, lawyer, or executive of a huge corporation. When he read the results, to his embarrassed surprise, the test indicated he was best suited to be a shepherd.

A few thousand years earlier that could have been a badge of honor—it was normal for kings, priests, and other leaders to be referred to as shepherds. How fitting, therefore, that the angels of heaven chose humble, Bethlehem shepherds as the recipients of the announcement of God’s incarnation on earth—the incarnation of the One who would become the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-21).

Psalm 23 is a wonderful Christmas meditation—the image of the Lord as Shepherd of His sheep. If you belong to His flock, then He is leading and caring for you.