Shepherding ....

Ezekiel 34 talks about shepherds and sheep...

The question asked, "what kind of sheep are described?"

-weak
-sick
-injured
-strays
-lost

Describes the church....all of these kinds of sheep are found there...in the big churches, the dying churches, the spilt churches, the small churches...all in need of a good shepherd...the Good Shepherd..

In this chapter, the shepherds of Israel are being called out from their lack of care for the sheep they are supposed to be tending...the sheep were scattered, wandering, devoured because of shepherds who took care of themselves over the care of their flock....the leaders not taking care of their people....

We are likened to sheep in so many places....our leaders, the shepherds...

Further , the Lord goes on to say that He will rescue, gather, pasture, tend, search, bind up, strengthen...."I will shepherd the flock with justice"...

Going through a church split several years ago  as well as attending several other churches over the years, I look for a good shepherd. One whose foundation is found in the Word, who tries to get to meet the flock, one who is bringing others in, looking for strays, one who binds up, one who equips other shepherds...who is not elevating himself...but serving...whose heart is listening to the Real Shepherd and encourages the flock to look and listen as well...

Our hearts deep down desire the Shepherd who cares....Jesus...
Thank YOU...

 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them. “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Ezekiel 34:3-16,31

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:1-6