God’s Care for Individuals

Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need (Psalm 23: 1 LB). In the last analysis nothing is more central to the practical life of the Christian than confidence in God’s individual dealings with each person. The individual care of the shepherd for his sheep, of the parent for the child and of the lover for the beloved are all biblical images that have passed into the fundamental consciousness of Western humanity. They pervasively and essentially mark our art and general culture as well as our religion. Not only conservative and liberal Christians, high church and Pentecostal, but also Christian and Jew, and even Jew and Muslim, come together in saying, “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack for nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters” (Psalm 23: 1-2, paraphrase). Meditate: Take each phrase of Psalm 23 (or the first few phrases), and picture how different you would be inside if you really believed it. How would your life be different if you really believed the Lord was your shepherd? If you really believed you lacked for nothing? How would you feel and how would you interact with people differently if you continually experienced green pastures and still waters.” —Dallas Willard, Hearing God Through the Year

For today’s devotional thought, I invite you to accept Willard’s invitation above, to meditate on each of the first few phrases of Psalm 23 and ponder how different your life would be if we held these truths deeply in our hearts. How would your life be different if each verse were speaking directly of you? If you really believed Jesus to be your shepherd? Really believed “in Christ” you have no want for anything? And perhaps most importantly, how would our embracing (and embodying) these truths impact the way we see, love, and treat others? Let’s pray about this! —DH