We talked yesterday about being shepherds to our children, our little flocks.
Did you know that shepherding is talked about in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation? God chose two of the greatest leaders of all time from looking after sheep, Moses and King David (Exodus 3:1-10 and Psalm 78:70-72). It was the best training for leadership! Let’s read about David: “He chose David . . . and took him from the sheepfolds: From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.”
God continues to look for shepherds. He looks for mothers who will shepherd like his heart. Jeremiah 3:15 states: “I will give you pastors (shepherds) according to mine heart, which shall fee you with knowledge and understanding.”
And because our little flock is really His flock, He requires them at our hand (Ezekiel 34:10). He wants us to diligently know the state of our little flock. He wants us to know what is going on in their hearts and minds as well as in their actions. He wants us to know the state of their souls. We can do this effectively unless we are with our children. Proverbs 27:23 says: “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks.”
How can we be the shepherdess He wants us to be? We certainly can't do it in our own strength and wisdom, but be encouraged, for Micah 5:4 tells us that Jesus Christ will "stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God." If that is how Jesus shepherds, that's the only way we can do it, too.
Dear mother, you can’t do it in your strength, but you can do it in the strength of the Lord.
Be encouraged today,
Nancy Campbell