Sheep Need a Shepherd

You're listening to Life Path biblical instruction with practical application. I'm Brandon Ware and I want to welcome you to my podcast.

Today is Thursday, January 14th, 2021. Today's devotional thought comes from Matthew Chapter 9 verses 36 through 38 which simply says, When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest, to send out laborers into His harvest. You know, the people that Jesus ministers to are greatly loved by Him, and man, that's really good news. Jesus was going through the cities and the villages. He was teaching and He was preaching and He was healing all kinds of various diseases.

And as He looked upon the crowds, Matthew tells us that He was deeply moved with compassion for those crowds. He saw that they were harassed and helpless. That word harassed there means that they were troubled and distressed by the pressures of life. Sin and brokenness had left them in a wake of destruction.

In many ways, we're no different than they are. We're harassed by physical ailments and spiritual issues and a host of addictions. Humanity is indeed harassed by the tyranny of sin. And yet, Matthew also says that those crowds were helpless, which is a word that means that they're cast down, dispirited. The idea is that they were not in a position to rescue themselves from their troubles. They had no strength in and of themselves to do anything about their harassed, helpless condition.

And so these two words adequately describe lost humanity. Humanity is harassed by the tyranny of sin, completely helpless to do anything about it. And no matter how hard we try, we cannot rescue ourselves from our own pitiful condition. And often we look for relief in a variety of places, none of which present us with solutions to our problem.

Instead, man's solutions only exacerbate man's problems. It's like salt water. If you drink salt water, you will actually thirst to death.

You'll only get thirstier. But the good news is that Jesus looks on the harassed and helpless crowd with compassion. He sees them as sheep without a shepherd. You know, sheep cannot fend for themselves. They cannot provide for themselves.

They cannot lead themselves. By nature, sheep need a shepherd. And it's only in the shepherd that sheep find salvation and security. John 10 11, Jesus said, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Humanity is in desperate need of the good shepherd. And so this really helps you understand the urgency with which Jesus speaks to his disciples. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Humanity is harassed and helpless, and there aren't that many who truly care. Therefore, we must pray that the Lord of the harvest raises up and sends forth workers into his harvest who truly care. And may we be in that number. Well, that's today's devotional thought. If we can minister to you or help you in any way, please send us an email. connect at greenstreet.org. Thanks for listening.