Daily Devotional for Thursday 24th October
Be shepherds of God’s flock
My uncle owns a farm and when I was younger, I would often be there for a few days over the summer helping out and joining my uncle on his tractor going around the fields. I remember one of my jobs was to hop onto the quad bike and go around the fields and count the sheep. It was really important to count every single one and make sure none of them were missed, otherwise my uncle or auntie would have to go out and find the one I missed. I think this is a beautiful illustration of how we as Christians have a responsibility to look after every single person in our care that God has given us to make sure nobody is missed or lost. Sometimes a sheep would go off into a random field and mingle with another farmer's sheep. This makes it complicated to find which sheep belongs to who so farmers mark their sheep with sheep spray so everyone knows who that sheep belongs to. Like this, we are marked through the blood of Jesus so when a sheep is struggling, we must help and support each other to live for Christ.
Because we are marked by Jesus, we belong to Him. God appoints people to look over His flock to help us not go astray. These people are the Vicars, Curates, Ordinands and Ministers. They have a duty to look after those who are in their care and serve them. We are so blessed to have amazing leaders in our church who are completely dedicated to serving God’s church and His mission to make disciples of Jesus and bring people closer to Him.
But what about the congregation? What part do they play in this? Peter talks about submitting yourself to your leaders. This isn’t being a slave or worshipping our leaders, but getting behind them and their vision for the church, praying for them daily, and asking what we can do to help them. What leaders need to do their calling is for people who want to know Jesus more and see people come to know Jesus. That is the ultimate goal of the church so we can see God’s kingdom grow and see more souls saved by Jesus.
So, how does my contribution make any difference if I’m just a sheep in a flock? I hear you ask. I’m really glad you asked that question because to God, it’s not how much you give that counts, it’s your heart's intentions that matter the most. In 1 Samuel 16:7 it says, “...the Lord looks at the heart.” when you serve tea and coffee on a Sunday when you could be sitting at home enjoying your Sunday afternoon, God sees that. When you get to church early to cover the AV desk instead of having a lie in from your long week, God sees that. When you go to your mid-week small group despite going through some tough times, God sees that. We want you to contribute to the church not because you have to. You can stay at home if you like, but because we want you to be a part of what God is doing in Walmley, Birmingham, and the UK. We want you to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. This in turn what brings us closer to Jesus and in doing these things, we fall in love with Him a little bit more each time.
Time to reflect…
How can we serve the church to help our leader's vision come to reality? How can we help our leaders whose calling is to shepherd God’s people?
Pause to pray…
Lord, we pray for our church leaders. We pray you protect them and help them in their day-to-day tasks. Jesus, we lift up Ade, Claire, Laura, Kat, Jon, and the rest of the staff and key volunteers at St John’s. We ask you to be with them in all they do. In Jesus’s name, we pray, Amen.
