Thought for the Day – Wednesday 6th May
When we were out for our walk around the industrial estate yesterday, a
little later than usual, we spotted for the first time, even though we had
passed these same trees many times before on our walks, little identity tags on
each tree bearing a number. We wondered why we had never spotted them before
and came to the conclusion that it was because we were walking a little later
in the day and the sun was in a different position and so as a result it was
shining on the little tags thus bringing them to our attention. I have to say, having spotted them, like
young children – well for me at least - it then became an activity as we walked
along to look for the little tags on the trees – bringing a little
excitement
to our daily walk! We knew those little tags identified each tree and somewhere
there would be a record of which tree was which species and where it was
planted and that should a particular tree ever require attention of any sort
the person responsible for the tree management would be able to find that specific
tree swiftly and attend to its needs.
Seeing those little identity tags got me thinking back to this
characteristic of Jesus that we are thinking about this week namely, Jesus as
our ‘Good Shepherd’ – and a ‘Good Shepherd’ who ‘knows his own’. We may not be wearing little shiny identity tags
but Jesus know us. There may not be a sheet somewhere outlining where each one
of us is ‘planted’ but Jesus knows where to find us and should we ever have
need of him we know he will be able to find us. How are we assured of this?
Well these words from Psalm 139 assure us:
‘O Lord, you have searched me and
known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts
from far away. You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with
all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it
completely. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is so high that I cannot attain it.’
For it was you who formed my inward
parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very
well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes beheld my unformed
substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when
none of them as yet existed.’
‘Search me, O God, and know my
heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and
lead me in the way everlasting.’
Of course, the second part of that phrase Jesus our ‘Good Shepherd’
utters is important too!
‘….and my own know me’
He wishes for us to know him as much as he knows us and there is the
challenge for us not just during ‘Lockdown’ but always. We need to get to know
our ‘Good Shepherd’ intimately so that we might become more like him in our
lives.
Prayer
Loving Lord,
Search us and know our hearts, find within us that piece of you and
grow it within us that we might come to know you more in our lives and be led
to share that knowledge of you with others. In Jesus name. Amen.
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