Psalm 23:1--3
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing. He makes me lie down in
green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He
guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
NIV
In the name of the Good Shepherd, amen.
This week we celebrate the goodness of the Lord. Look carefully at the
words quoted above; I shall lack nothing because the Lord is my shepherd.
He feeds me, He restores my soul, He guides me in the paths of
righteousness for the sake of His name. That last phrase is interesting;
it deserves some consideration.
The good that the Lord does for us He does for His name's sake. He does
not exist for us; we exist for Him. This is absolutely logical if we
think about it at all. God is eternal, He existed before us and created
us. But how strange the thought seems to us. We pray more for what we
want than for what God wants. We whine and complain about everything.
And then when faced with the idea that we exist to serve God, we take
offence. We place ourselves in judgment over God: "How dare He think
that we are here to serve Him? He is the One Who is supposed to do
everything that we want!"
How twisted our sin sick minds are. The Lord truly is good. When He
leads us and provides for us, it brings honor to His name. When we
serve Him, we function in the way that we were created. Remember that He
is the One Who restores our souls--He makes us what we are supposed to
be. When we realize that we, in our arrogance, place ourselves in
judgment over our Creator, He is ready and eager to forgive us when we
repent. God's goodness results in eternal happiness for us. God's
goodness is greater than our rebellion.
As you go about your business today, keep asking yourself how you can
serve God in all that you do. Remember that He is good, and blesses you
with all good things so that you can serve Him in a pleasing manner. May
He guide you this day and always in paths of righteousness for His name's
sake. Amen.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, you are our Good Shepherd. As sheep we often think that you
exist to serve us rather than the other way around. Forgive us for such
foolish thoughts. Help us to realize that if we stray from you by
thinking we are greater than You, death and eternal destruction wait for
us. Keep us by Your goodness in paths of righteousness to the glory of
Your holy name, amen.