SCRIPTURE: “And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. – (1Peter 5:4 KJV)
QUOTE: “God is not a celestial prison warden jangling the keys on a bunch of lifers–he’s a shepherd seeking for sheep, a woman searching for coins, a father waiting for his son.” – Clarence Jordan
NOTE:
A chief shepherd is the shepherd of shepherds. A great shepherd gathers under his followership a number of followers. The chief shepherd is able to convert these followers into shepherds thereby making him a shepherd of shepherds. Jesus has become our chief shepherd because He has made shepherds and shepherds out of numerous followers. This rare attribute is lacking in our days where leaders only feather their nest and followers make of themselves shepherds, refusing the waiting period to be made a true shepherd. God must give us more chief shepherds if we must cover lost grounds in disciplining the nations.
ILLUSTRATION:
God entrusted Moses to the Priest of Midian to be trained as a chief shepherd. Such training and maturity would have been impossible in the palace of Pharaoh. It is not every leader that carries this grace of a chief shepherd. Having trained and released Moses by divine instruction, Jethro was surprised to see Moses operating without the workable strategy of raising other shepherds (Exo. 18:17-13). Jethro called Moses’s attention to the grace of a chief Shepherd resident within him and the moment he realized the missing link, the assignment, task and burden of leadership was simplified (Exo. 18:24-25)
REFLECTION:
- Do you have the required skills and experience to reproduce yourself?
- Have you discovered the grace of a chief shepherd that requires further nurturing?
TWO YEAR BIBLE READING: Ezra 5 – 6, Psalm 77