But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:6
All We Like Sheep…
It is no mistake that Jesus compares us to sheep in the Bible. We are sheep. We have lost our way before and we will continue to lose our way every time we move away from our great shepherd. Thankfully we have a Good Shepherd that will bring us back into the fold every time, and we can always be thankful for that.
Like sheep, without a shepherd, we will walk right into trouble. We need the gentle voice of the good shepherd to call to us, lead us and guide us. We need the loving tug of His staff to pull us back to Him, to safety, where we belong. We need His love, grace, mercy, and protection.
The shepherd is the guardian of the flock and he watches each separate sheep. The Bible also talks about how the sheep know the voice of their shepherd in John 10:2b:…and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. They listen for it and when they hear it, they come.
Jesus is our Good Shepherd and it is His desire to give us all good things, to take care of us, to give us comfort, peace, meet our needs, and to protect us. The things we think we want are sometimes not good for us. The good things that the shepherd gives are the right things for us. His word tells us not to worry about our needs - our basic provisions of what we will eat, wear, etc. He has it all under control. We just have to follow Him. The shepherd always guides the sheep, and our Shepherd is no different. He leads us, and when we stray, He will come for us like any good shepherd would. There is no place we can go that He won’t come after us. And no matter how big the flock is, He cares about every single one of us.
Listen for the gentle sound of the good shepherd in your life and follow His lead. Without Him we are lost and He will never lead us astray.
If you look around you today or you can see trials and hardship and you feel the pressures of your life; if you struggle to find something to be thankful for, remember your Good Shepherd.
He was pierced for YOUR transgressions.
He was crushed for YOUR inquities.
He took on the punishment that brought YOU peace.
By His stripes you are healed.
No one can ever take from you what He has given you. No mistake you make will ever have the power to canel it out. No one can snatch you from His hand. I cannot imagine anything to be more thankful for.
