THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Yahweh is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd lays down

 His life for the sheep. John 10:11

A young Muslim man in Chad had accepted Jesus as his Savior. He worked with his father who owned several donkeys used to transport merchandise to herders. He desired to share the Truth with some of those animal owners, so he invited us to take him to an encampment where one of his customers was at the time. This customer and his father owned hundreds of cattle, sheep, and goats. They had settled for a time at a place where water was still available during the dry season.

It was the month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast during the daylight hours. This fast is total—no food or drink. They are permitted to eat and drink during the night, so they often make up for the daytime deprivation. The man our friend wanted us to meet was reclining on his cot that morning, tired from a night of gorging.

He welcomed us into his open-sided tent. As we got acquainted, he pointed to a newborn lamb under that shelter and told his son to bring the lamb to him. He then told the boy to bring him a hot ember from the fire. He touched the ember to a spot on the lamb, explaining that from several feet away, he had seen a tick on the animal. Though he was tired, and in a sense off-duty, he cared for the lamb.

We witnessed the actions of a good shepherd. His interest was in part economic; he saw to a need of one of hundreds in his herds. We, Jesus’ sheep, are cared for by the Good Shepherd. His interest in us is not economic. He is motivated by a love so great that He purchased us with His blood. We are redeemed “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:19). How precious to know that our Shepherd personally knows our names, our needs, our concerns. He never sleeps and is never too tired to hear us.

Les Vnasdale