Wednesday, November 24, 2021 Some material taken from Giving Thanks For The Good Shepherd
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters, He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:1-3
All Good Things
The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. This is the NIV translation of Psalm 23:1, and I love this translation because it is so complete. When we become His, He is our Shepherd and we lack absolutely nothing. There is nothing that we need or want that He does not provide for us.
The beautiful thing about this shepherd is that He doesn’t just give us everything we need, He is everything we need. If you’re hungry He is the Bread of Life. If you’re thirsty He is the Living Water. If you’re in the dark He is the Light of the World. If you’re lost, He is the Way. If you need it He has it. If He doesn’t have it you don’t need it.
We have a Shepherd - a Savior - who gives us all good things. He meets all our needs, but He also meets all our wants if we let Him. We may try to get our wants fulfilled in other places, but we never will be able to find that satisfaction anywhere else.
He provides us with the rest we need because we can rest IN Him when we cannot find rest anywhere else. We will only find green pastures in Him.
He gives us the peace we yearn for because He is our still waters in a rushing world chaos and disorder.
He restores our soul. When He restores us, he doesn’t just restore in part, He restores our whole being. The shepherd knows there must be a restoration for the journey and provides that opportunity. There must be peace and restoration.
When we wander from Jesus, who gives us everything we need, we will find nothing we need. We lack nothing in Him but without Him, we lack everything. When we stray from Him, we cannot find our way back without His grace. He comes after us when we don’t have the strength to rescue ourselves. When we can’t return to Him on our own, He rescues us. Every time we wander, He brings us back, over and over again. In His marvelous grace, He makes us alive in Him, and restores our soul.
He leads us on paths of righteousness. Our paths in life are determined by our destination. When we have a relationship with God, His glory should be our goal – our destination. So whatever path He puts us on, the destination is His glory. It is through Gods restoration of grace that He leads us to the right paths. His grace restores us, puts us on the right path, keeps us on the right path, sustains us, and strengthens us.
Many paths in life fulfill great purposes for God’s glory, but at the time it doesn’t feel great to us. Romans 11:36 says For from Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen. Any path that brings glory to God will always be for our good.
