Tuesday 5 December 2006

Failing as shepherds

“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.” - Ezekiel 34v2-5

Through His prophet Ezekiel, here God sent a specific lesson on how His shepherds were failing. These are, of course, those who led or shepherded His people. Although all do shepherd to a certain extent, specifically God is dealing with those who would be pastors or other spiritual leaders today.

In what ways did these shepherds fail?

They took care of themselves first
They failed to strengthen the weak
They failed to care for the sick
They failed to help those who were broken
They failed to go after those who wandered away
The did not seek the lost
They ruled with cruelty

It doesn’t take much imagination to see how these things can apply to spiritual leaders today. What a checklist to see how we are doing as pastors and spiritual leaders. How do we do if we have use the list to tick off what we are doing, or failing to do for the Lord?

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