Following Our Shepherd

January 23

Psalm 100:3 admonishes, “Acknowledge that the Lord is God. It is He who hath made us and we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.” That’s a very straight forward statement with two powerful points—we must recognize that we are God’s and realize that we are sheep in His eyes. Beloved sheep, but sheep.

Looking at the second point first, we will be greatly advantaged if we know our limitations. Sheep are not noted for their mental acuity. Our mistake is that we think we are smart enough to guide our own lives when we should, as sheep, follow our Shepherd rather than follow our own logic.

The first point is to acknowledge God. We may think we give Him His due--we, unlike heathens, assent to His existence, but the Bible tells us that the devils believe in Him and tremble (James 2:19). If we give mere mental assent to the reality of His Person, we are doing nothing more than hell-bound demons.

Encompassed in the admonition in the Word is the necessity that we worship Him as God—if we do—then will we follow Him as sheep follow their shepherd. If we acknowledge Him as He deserves that we do, we will not only believe and tremble in the presence of His glory, but follow in the joy of His love.