Devotionals

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We Are His Sheep

This last weekend I was driving through the flatlands of Oklahoma and Kansas on my way back home to Colorado. I left early in the morning. As the sun began to rise, I looked through the thickened fog that had just started clearing. I could see several sheep along side the road wandering aimlessly and grazing near the fence line. As the sun peered over the horizon it caused many of them to stand out in silhouette. It definitely was a picture perfect scene.

I thought of how they had gotten up before sunrise and started grazing. There were sheep of all sizes, and several baby lambs. As a young girl I use to care for sheep on our farm. I suppose, that is why I have always had a fondness towards them. We would feed the young lambs with a bottle. They would become very frisky and sometimes it took all my strength to hold that bottle so they could not pull it out of my hand.

As I think of those moments, I also wonder about my own hunger. As the sheep rise early to feed upon the fields, I find myself at times anxiously seeking out a morsel of truth in God's Word. Before knowing Christ, I wandered aimlessly through life, very much like sheep tend to do.

Peter says,

"For you were continually straying like sheep; but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls."
(1 Peter 2:25) NASB

Unfortunately, there are still many people, who in knowing the truth, have chosen to continue their wandering. I am sure we have all met people like that.

During my years of raising sheep, I've learned that they tend to have a mind of their own. There were very few that were completely obedient. Others needed to be led more persuasively. The one thing they all had in common was their insatiable hunger. As soon as feeding time came around, they would all gather near the barn and start their beckoned calls as if to say, "Hey, where's the food? I'm hungry -bring it on!"

How hungry have you been lately? Do you run to the feeding field of God daily? Maybe you're that person who knows everything, and has no need for spiritual food. Perhaps you've been wandering aimlessly and straying away from the flock. Other things have peaked your interest and you're just not as hungry as you used to be.

There have been times in my life when I have not been very hungry. Knowing that my body needs physical strength I will go ahead and take a few bites. However, as I begin eating, I soon realize I am hungrier than I realized. It is like this with the Word of God. I may start out not very hungry, wandering aimlessly through the Word until I find a morsel of truth that speaks to me. Then as I digest it, I realize how very good it is, and I immediately search for more. My hunger grows and I find that I too, am grazing to fill my insatiable appetite.

There is one other thing I want us to understand today. At times, some of us eat because it seems we are hungry physically. What you may not know is that spiritual food often fills what appears to be a physical hunger. I've experienced it myself. God designed us to have a spiritual relationship with Him. Sometimes we use food to fill that void. Sometimes we use drugs, alcohol, or ladies - we shop till we drop! All of these can be used to take the place of spiritual food that God intended for us to eat.

Just as it is important for us to eat daily from the four basic food groups, it is important for us to include God's Word into our lives. Jesus is well aware of how necessary it is to feed upon God's Word daily.

There was time when the disciples had returned to bring Jesus some food to eat. The book of John tells us,

But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
(John 4:32) NASB

As you read throughout the Gospels, Jesus refers to God's Word as food. So what is stopping you today from eating a well rounded meal? Would it be pride, laziness or unbelief? I encourage you today to start grazing on food that will sustain you for an eternity. It will give you life, and in it, you will find that it will surely satisfy your soul.

Copyright 2004 Jane E. Morin

http://besidestillwater.faithweb.com
Email: [email protected]

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