For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:25
One of the great blessings of last week was the wonderful weather we had. It was a real tonic to be able to go out to the fields around the little village where I live. Rhiwlas is so beautiful this time of year as nature wakes up after the long winter, leaves start to appear on the trees and the fields are a vibrant green with plenty of lambs dancing around.
There’s not much order in the field as the sheep and lambs run here and there. I’m glad that there’s a good fence to hold them in or there would be no knowing where or what they’d get up to (as I discovered a few years when I found a sheep happily urinating in my front room!)
Yet, during a walk with the family I was surprised to see the sheep walking in a line through the field. The reason? The shepherd was at the front in the tractor with a big bag of food. The sheep knew who he was and were happy to follow him knowing that they’d be protected and well fed.
The Christian, through the work of the Spirit, has turned to the great Shepherd who came down from heaven. There is none like this shepherd. He created the cosmos and holds everything in place, but he became one of us and died on the cross to save us and was brought back to life after three days.
Another week of work stretches out before us and who knows what we may face, sun or rain, health or sickness. The great comfort for you and me this morning is that we don’t have to worry about anything as we have a Shepherd who will lead us and care for us. We can trust it all to Jesus, be that work, family, health or even our own souls – as he said, ‘no-one can take them out of my hand’.
Let us, like the sheep in the field, walk full of faith with our eyes on our Shepherd this week.
Steffan Job (Capel y Ffynnon, Bangor)