Jesus is not only the Savior of the church; Jesus is also the Shepherd of the church. Jesus is the Great or Chief Shepherd; I am privileged to serve as His undershepherd. I Peter 5 tells us about the pastor being the caretaker or undershepherd of the local church.
Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, and I am the undershepherd. He grows the hay; I shovel it out.
Jesus Christ cares for this church. I always do my best to be the pastor of this church. Praying, fasting, watching, caring for, giving time to this situation or that situation, and you know, as hard as I try, it is not enough. As hard as I try to be a good pastor, it is never quite enough. There are always more needs.
That is when I stop and remember, “Lord I am just the undershepherd and I am running as fast as I can. I am trying to get the hay out as fast as I can. I am trying to keep the manure out of the stalls and everything cleaned up. I am trying to keep things pure and clean before you. I am running after this stray and there goes another stray. Here is a family that needs some help; oops, there is another family that needs some help. Woah, here is a situation that needs some attention. Lord, I am doing everything that I know how to do and sometimes it seems like it is not enough.”
That is when He reminds me that it is all right. I am the GREAT SHEPHERD. The great news today, He is also your Shepherd. What a great reminder to all of us!
