##DailyDevotion Jesus The Shepherd Cares For You
1 Peter 2: 25You were like lost sheep, but now you’ve come back to the Shepherd Who takes care of you.
In Matt. 9 he writes, “36As He [Jesus] saw the crowds, He felt sorry for them, because they were troubled and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” While the LORD complained about the shepherds of his people 500 years earlier he finds them still in this state. The people were still trouble and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Jesus would send out his apostles to gather in, with his authority, the lost sheep of Israel. In John 10 Jesus also says, “16I have other sheep, too, that are not in this fold. I must lead those, too, and they will listen to My voice, and so they will become one flock with one Shepherd.” That is to say, Jesus’ sheep come from every branch of humanity and not just Israel or the Jews. He makes them all into one flock under him which today we call the Church.
As much as Jesus has given it to the apostles and the pastors that followed them to tend and feed the sheep, we are all just under-shepherds. We all were lost sheep and we all have come back to the Shepherd who takes care of us. He takes care of us and we under-shepherds take care of you through the voice of Jesus.
Sometimes we may get concerned because our little flock seems to be diminishing. We may speak the voice of Jesus, tell the people in our community what Jesus has said, but they do not join us. They do not believe the good news of Jesus. While we may feel bad for them we should not fret about ourselves. They are not Jesus’ sheep, or at least they are not ready to be so. Jesus’ sheep hear his voice, listen to him and follow him. If we are speaking with his voice, i.e. his words then it is not up to us to force them to be part of our flock. We simply are to follow Jesus, listen to his voice and in faith and trust, do all that he has given us to do.
But I would like for a moment to focus on the words, “Who takes care of you.” Jesus knows how to take care of us. We need not fret he will not take care of us. His Father also knows what we need before we even ask him. We often have so much trouble and travail in our lives because we do not look to Jesus who is our Good Shepherd and petition the Father for all our needs. We need to remember Peter’s words in chapter 5 of this letter, “7Turn all your worry over to Him because He cares for you.” God our Father and the LORD Jesus Christ do care for you. True, they may at times have you pass through the trials and tribulations in life to purify your faith but you in these times are to call upon his name. You are to turn all these trials and tribulations over to Jesus because he cares for you. He will strengthen you and enable you to get through these times. In the process, your faith will be purified and strengthened by it and you will gain for yourselves the salvation of your souls.
Jesus who cares for us is also the sign the Father cares for us as well. For the Father has sent the son to be the Lamb of God who has taken our sins away by his innocent suffering and death. If the Father so loves us to that, he also will take care of you for the mundane things of this life as well.
Dear Jesus, may we come to you and to your Father with all our cares knowing you care for us and take away our anxieties of the day know you neither leave us or forsake us. In your precious name we pray. Amen.