A Good Shepherd

All of us, particularly parents of children, are called to be shepherds, and learn to care for others. According to the words of Jesus, a true shepherd is someone who is willing to lay down their life for the sheep. Jesus said, ‘I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep’. John 10:11.

Apart from Christ, one of the greatest shepherds in the Scripture was King David. The Lord considered him to be a man after His own heart, and said, ‘I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel’. 2 Sam 7:8. Throughout many of his psalms, David refers to being ‘raised on high’. This is the place of safety and security; of knowing God and being known by Him. The Lord wants to meet each one of us and set us securely on high. There is a doorway to a path of righteousness set before us.

In David’s final words he said, ‘He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises’. 2 Sam 23:4. Anyone who aspires to lead people needs to reflect on this passage. These are the words of a man who had evidently learnt to lay his life down to Christ. When God gives us the freedom and motivation to lead, we need to continually lay our life down and learn from Him. How can we rule righteously if we don’t know the righteousness of God?

God sends the advertsity and trouble into our life to teach us. David learnt to care for people, putting his own life and needs aside, by fighting with lions and bears. What price, a few sheep? Do we run away, or do we lay down our life for the sake of others? No one lays down their life except by the power of God. If you consider yourself to be a coward, weak or flimsy, join the club. We all are. There are no heroes in the kingdom of God. Rather, there are faithful men and women who have learnt to lay their life down to Christ, to receive power from Him to give and care for others.

Let’s continue to reflect on the final words of King David. ‘Truly, is not my house so with God? He has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things, and secured’. 2 Sam 23:5. Parents do not need to be afraid of their teenage children as they wrestle to know who they are. The important thing is to stick with them. They don’t need to be pulled out of the church program while they are struggling. Rather, they need to be thrust into it, so that they learn to be a disciple.

The aim of parents must be to bring their children into the process of discipleship. Don’t form a block with your children, over against your spouse. Likewise, don’t form a block with them over against their school, teachers, or peers. Rather, deliver them to the process of discipline and maturity.

We read in John 10 concerning the good Shepherd, ‘He puts forth all his own. He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice. And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from Him, because they do not know the voice of strangers’. John 10:4,5. This is extremely important for the parents of teenagers. There are many, many voices in the world today. Do your children know your voice? Do they know that your voice is the voice of someone who waits upon God in prayer? Do they know that your voice is the one that leads and guides them? Do they listen to your voice, over every other voice, when they need to make a decision?

‘Sometimes we need to stop listening to our own voice and our own anxieties, and rather listen to the Lord’s voice so that we know Him and He knows us.’

In the crisis, children need to know that their parents are their shepherds. When you put your children forward to something, when you go before them, are you doing it for their benefit? If your children know that you are committed to laying your life down to Christ and laying down your life down for them, then they will follow you. If your children are going to turn to you in a difficult situation, they will need to know that you will not run in the face of danger.

A good shepherd is a person who lays down their life to Christ, the chief Shepherd. And likewise they are learning from Him. Before we can lay life down for the sheep in our care, we need to wait on God, so we can see them how He sees them and know who they are in His eyes. Jesus said ‘I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me’. John 10:14. To know your own children, means to know the pathway of their predestination and righteousness.

We must not define and direct our children according to our own thoughts, views, and feelings. We must direct and form them by the word of God and His will for their lives. King David learnt to be a shepherd on a solitary hill, trusting God in the face of adversity and danger. Likewise, Jesus learnt to be a shepherd, rising early and going out, every morning, to a solitary place to pray.

A good shepherd makes sure that his voice is known by his sheep; not just the voice of his personal opinions, plans or good ideas. But rather, that the sheep know the voice of his love and care. Sometimes we must stop listening to our own voice, to our own anxieties, and listen to the Lord’s voice. Only then can we know the will of God for our children. Our goal as parents, is that our children might know our voice, as the voice of a good shepherd in their lives.

Helen Smith

Return to top

Feature Articles
March 2008

Reckoning Faith

The Sound of Home

The Duties of Wealth

The Mystery of Lack

A Good Shepherd

The Overstated Metaphor