Second Sunday In Advent

On this Second Lord’s Day Sunday of Advent and during the coming week, our illumination will be on God’s shepherds. I begin with a simple and ordinary experience, but one which I trust will be precious and pertinent to you.

I have a special WhatsApp sister who daily keeps fellowship with me and I keep fellowship with her. On one particular morning, when I was awakened and heard the word, shepherd, nothing else but, shepherd and was asking our Lord about it and to grant me response, I heard the notification ring on my phone. When I got the phone and checked, it was my WhatsApp friend with her usual greeting. “Good morning have a great day be safe.” That was her usual pattern, early in the morning, long before dawn, as she works very early morning shift hours. My responses are always short with a word about our Heavenly Father.

On that particular early morning, in the stillness and quiet of the yet un-dawned new day, with the word, shepherd, filling all of my mind, I responded in a kind of automaticity, with these words. “Remember, the Lord shepherds you.” It was only after I had written, in instinctive, automatic manner, I tell you, and I sat down to early morning school with our Lord, that I began to seriously think of those words which I had so easily and quickly responded with.

This much I know and do confess. Had I not had the word, shepherd, placed on my consciousness, that early morning, I would never have responded with those words to my friend, who was in the throes of preparing herself for work. I would respond with phrases such as, The Lord is your strength; God is Faithful; Jesus is your Shepherd or God’s Holy Spirit is Present. However, after the fact of sending that response, Remember, the Lord shepherds you, and I was schooled on what I had written, I was totally taken down. Made prostrate in my entire being, I could only but seek it all, want it all, crave it all, believe it all and live it all – all that the sheep of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, receive.

Throughout this second week in Advent, as we gaze upon more lights on the Advent Tree, we look for and receive all that the Holy Spirit will bring back to our remembrance, about the fact that the Lord shepherds us. What is the fact? The unarguable and irrefutable fact is that Jesus shepherds you and me. How can we be so bold in speaking this way? It is because we are speaking after Jesus and He does not lie, nor does He deceive people for any reason at all.

As simplistic and almost nondescript as this may appear to some, it perfectly places, and astutely answers any doubt that may be wanting to raise its ugly head, where Jesus’ words are concerned. As a little child, you are never hesitant to proudly state, holding on to your mother’s, dress tail, shirt tail, pants leg, or whatever, these words. This is my mommy! How does such a very young child, barely able to speak even, know this truth, believe this truth and speak this truth boldly at any time and in any situation?

Whatever your many good and true responses, this one stands paramount in me. The mother has told it to the child, daily, in several ways. Now here is the wonderful, marvellous and joyful truth. The child is now able to say, with no coercion, no persuasion, no cajoling, and no kind of incentives either, while boldly holding on to her or his mother, this is my mommy.  No little child has any kind of desire, thought or curious inclinations to find out if what he or she has been told and is being told, is really true, concerning mommy or daddy, for that matter. This is exactly how we are to be with Jesus our Shepherd.

Faith demands that we be like little children in our believing, receiving and knowing, otherwise how can we be one of the family of God? How can we know His Kingdom, His Rule and His Will? This is no different child-like faith, in knowing that the Lord shepherds you and me. Again I repeat. We know this because Jesus, our Shepherd has told us so. If you are His sheep, then is He not your Shepherd? And if He is your Shepherd, why then can’t you, walking by His side, with Him holding your hand, boldly state this to all and sundry, Jesus shepherds me?