Do you feel lost sometimes?  At times vulnerable and confused?  That is the way Jesus saw the multitudes around him, “distressed and downcast, like sheep without a shepherd.”   (Matthew 9:36)  He knows that some of the trouble we find ourselves in we have brought upon ourselves.  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way.” (Isaiah 53:6)  He knows our desperation.  But He feels compassion for us and welcomes our dependence, as He considers Himself our rightful Good Shepherd (John 10:11).  So He opens His arms to us in welcome.

His role as Shepherd-Messiah was prophesied from long past:

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“He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
    He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.”                Isaiah 40:11

This nurturing, protecting role is natural for Messiah, as it is what God the Father has done for eternity for those choose to follow Him:

“I have cared for you since you were born.
    Yes, I carried you before you were born.
I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
    until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
    I will carry you along and save you.”                                        Isaiah 46:3-4

Thank You, dear Lord, for Your great patience, Your loving pursuit of me, for putting me on Your shoulder to carry me back home again, and Your faithful, tender care along the way.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”                     John 10:27-30