The Good Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

John 10:11

Two men were called on, in a large gathering, to recite the Twenty-third Psalm. One was a renowned orator trained in speech technique and drama. He recited the psalm in a powerful way. When he finished, the audience cheered, requesting an encore that they might hear him speak once again. Then the other man, who was much older, repeated the same words. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want..." But when he finished, not a sound came from the listeners. Instead, they sat in a deep mood of devotion and prayer.

Then the first man, the great orator, stood to his feet. “I have a confession to make," he said, "the difference between what you have just heard from my old friend and what you heard from me is this: I know the Psalm, my friend knows the Shepherd." Many people can recite Psalm 23, but do they know the Shepherd? Do they know Jesus Christ as their Shepherd Savior? The One who laid down His life for His sheep; who gave His life as a sacrifice for their sins. "'The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.' This is one of the many scriptures which clearly and definitely defines both the nature and extent of the Atonement. The Savior 'gave his life' not as a martyr for the truth, not as a moral example of self-sacrifice, but for a people. He died that they might live. By nature His people are dead in trespasses and sins, and had not the Divinely-appointed and Divinely-provided Substitute died for them, there had been no spiritual and eternal life for them." (A.W. Pink) Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. Do you know Him?