A couple of weeks ago in church, a sister spoke of the difference between a shepherd and a sheepherder. A sheperd, she said, owns the flock, while a sheepherder is merely a hired hand. The shepherd has a vested interest in the flock of sheep; the sheepherder only a passing interest at best.
She then likened the shepherd to the Lord. Such a comparison is not new, of course, but her analogy somehow reached me when others, though similar, have not.
The Lord has a "vested interest" in us, His flock. He wants each of us to succeed, to return to Him. How simple. And how complicated. Returning to Him is simple because we have only to look to Him, to believe Him, and to believe in HIm. At the same time, returning to Him is complicated because we have to subject our will to His, to turn over our sins to Him, to surrender our pride.
Joy for today: giving ourselves to the Shepherd.
An interesting distinction between the two.
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