Devotion Archive

Week of January 18, 2010

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . . My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:14, 27-28

   These words from the book of John are some of my favorite in the Bible.  For the next number of Screenside Chats, I would like to look at the beautiful pictures that Jesus shows us in these words, focusing on a different picture each week. 

As wonderful a blessing as work is, have you ever been happy to reach the last day of your job?

I was usually at that point on the last day of my summer jobs in college and Seminary.  I was happy to announce, “I am not pulling weeds anymore!” (when I worked for a landscaping company.)  Or, “I am not cleaning toilets anymore!” (when I worked as a janitor)

Perhaps you’ve had those happy “last day of a job” moments, too.  When you were able to say with joy, “I am not the one who has to do this stuff anymore!  Goodbye!”

Did you see how Jesus describes his job in the passage above?  He says, “I am the good shepherd.”  A shepherd had a difficult and dirty job.  Keeping stinky and needy sheep alive was no picnic.  It involved long hours without a lot of accolades.

In this picture, Jesus is calling himself the shepherd of people . . . people like you and me.  Think about what a difficult job he has.  He is the one who gets barraged with prayer requests (many of them involving complaints or asking for more stuff) 24/7.  He is the one who promises to watch out for us 24/7, with no weekends or holidays off.  He is the one who sees the depth of our sinful messes, and promises to clean them and us up with his forgiveness.  He is the one who had to be nailed to a cross and walk through hell so that we could rise from the dead and wake in heaven.

To be the shepherd of our souls is not an easy job.  He could have easily said, “I will be the good shepherd until I have simply had enough of you needy sheep, then I am retiring and moving into a nice condo in heaven.”  He could have said, “I was the good shepherd, but now I am going to delegate that to a task force of angels while I oversee operations from corporate headquarters in heaven.”

But instead he says, “I am the good shepherd.”  He is still at work today.  He is personally present and working in your life.  He is not quitting his job.  He continues to watch over you and me day and night.  He continues to pour out his love and forgiveness upon you and me no matter how big of a mess we have made.  He continues to call us and comfort us with his gentle voice, and protect and preserve us with his powerful arm. 

Jesus is your good shepherd!  And he has no plans to retire!

Cared for by Him with you,

Pastor Jon Bergemann

Weekly Devotions are taken from Trinity's“Screenside Chat”, a weekly email devotion and newsletter from Pastor Bergemann designed to give you a spiritual boost from your Savior while keeping you connected to your Trinity family. 

Contact Pastor Jon Bergemann if you are interested in knowing more about Trinity Lutheran Church.

top of page