Psalm 23; Genesis 48:8–19; Mark 6:30–34
“They’re running around like chickens with their heads cut off!”
For someone who wasn’t raised on a farm (me), it is probably a bad phrase to use, though I understand the concept. I’m sure it’s different were one to experience it. Oddly, that phrase comes to mind when Jesus has compassion on the crowd because “they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
Add that to another phrase I’ve heard, “we love the sheep, but sheep bite,” and it all sounds very similar to the current reactive culture that surrounds us. It also sounds like far too many people who call themselves Christian.
“We have our shepherd…Jesus.” Christians should, but Jesus says that His sheep will know the sound of his voice. Look around you. Does it seem as if people are hearing the voice of Jesus? This may sound harsh, yet one of the biggest accusations thrown at Christians is that they are hypocrites.
If people who call themselves Christians are not listening for and to God, then hypocrite is pretty accurate. I’ve heard many people (of varying political/economic/ cultural/career/personality types) say that the world is so angry, harsh, judgmental that they want nothing to do with it. We are called to be salt and light.
The world around us needs to figure out how to have conversations again. The church has the Great Shepherd to guide us. We should probably figure out how to guide the world, but first, we must allow ourselves to be guided.
※Reflection※
Is there one “voice” that you listen to above all others? Whose? How do you deal with that voice when it leads you into apparent conflict with your dreams, family, or other relationships? How do you test that “voice”?
※Prayer※
Lord, helps to develop ears that hear you and hearts that follow you. Amen.