My little one enjoys being told something will happen, and then seeing that happening unfold. Recently, we put some seed in a bird feeder, and I told him that in a day or two, birds would find it, and start eating it, flying to the feeder and back to the tree, back and forth. To his amazement, as we watched out the window, birds began doing just that, and he exclaimed, "You were telling me the whole truth!" Well, of course I was, but it was important for him to know that. I showed him that he could indeed trust me, and eventually, I pray he will do so without me having to prove it.
God is vastly more faithful that I am; obviously, that does not even need to be stated.
I finished Jeremiah today, and no verse in this book has stood out to me more than Jer. 50:6.
"My people have become lost sheep; Their shepherds have led them astray..."
I've been taking the family through a study of Psalm 23 very slowly, and yesterday we had to define shepherd. You find a humble servant, faithful, confidently leading, with the sheep at his disposal, trusting he is heading the right direction to keep them alive with food and water. A protector, a comforter, simply asking to be trusted. For the shepherd to not find green pastures or water would mean death to the herd. What we have been so wonderfully reminded of is God's faithful provision for our flesh and soul, in so-called good times and bad.
God often refers to leaders of His people, Old Testament and New, as shepherds, with the expressed intent of faithfully leading as He does in Psalm 23 and other places with such descriptions. Jeremiah accurately relays God's Word to Judah when he condemns the spiritual shepherds then as having led God's people astray. Over and over and over again God has demanded to be heard, pleaded with His people to listen to Him, and they repeatedly decide that they will not trust Him. Perhaps they felt He was not actually telling them the whole truth, and now in exile, they must see how wrong they were.
It was a painful lesson to learn; it was painful for Jeremiah to observe. Just as I implanted trust into my little one, God had tried to do the same. Jeremiah hearkens to the prophets before him, rehearsing what God had done for His people down through history. He could be trusted!
We today have the great privilege of being ministered to by shepherds in our churches. They have the immense and awesome responsibility to not lead God's sheep astray. Sadly, in far too many churches today, there exist many lost sheep. The truth is not upheld, religion has taken the place of Biblical doctrine, and people want to feel good about church and life, with little or no attempt to live for the Lord.
My prayer today is for those faithful pastors, God's under-shepherd's in this world, who are taking a stand, refusing to compromise God's truth, and who selflessly give of the gifts they have been given, in order that someone like me, like you, might stay on the path that pleases the Creator. I also pray for those in pastoral positions who might be astray themselves, with wrongly-faithful followers behind them. May the Spirit work His truth in their lives.
When we see Him in glory, I pray that we are not surprised that, indeed, He was telling us the whole truth all along. We need to know and accept that...NOW.
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