I Shall Not Want

Who has not gone to a funeral and flipped the bulletin over to read the most famous passage on comfort of all time, Psalm 23. You need read no further than the first line, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want…..” For some reason, it has become a theme in my life that I have begun to embrace. Here is why.

When I look at this passage, I am reminded how much I am like the stinky sheep the shepherd in this verse is tending. I do not have it together, not even by a long shot.

Here are the two things I want to say about sheep:

The bad news first, sheep stink and they tend to do their own thing. They are irrational and blind to the needs of others. Sound familiar. Hey, that is what I do a lot. I sure don’t like being called out, but it certainly is the truth. Often because of their foolishness, the shepherd must waste his time rescuing them from barb wire fences, mud, or from walking around in circle. Sheep are easily led astray and often are lured to their death by their enemies.

Now here is the good news, when they listen to the shepherd they tend to ‘go all out’ because when they believe something they are all in. I think that is the, "I shall not want" part. When I do what I want, the end result is often difficulty, but when I do what the shepherd wants life becomes good.

So where am I going with all this sheep stuff, actually it’s pretty simple. Whether we like it or not, or at least for me, I know I am a mess on my own, but when I follow the Good Shepherd, Jesus, everything turns out alright. For me it is not a case of what I know, but who I know. I think all sheep like me should adopt Lord Alfred Tennyson famous quote, “Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die”.

Swavel