The 40th Day was really an excellent reminder of what our true goal is as shepherds and that is to get the sheep home. But this requires us to know where home is and to keep the flock aware of this. For sheep, that have not had this kind of clarion focus, it requires a lot of intentionality on the part of the shepherd. Too often, shepherd and sheep act as though this is our home. This is not as much a verbalized statement as it is a visualized statement. Most of our decisions are based on our thought of permanency and we see this in how we make purchases and investment decisions. Most westerners, including me, don’t live as Abraham did; a tent dweller. I do not mean physically as much as I mean mentally. We think of long-term stay and permanent dwelling. In order for the shepherd to help sheep become more focused on home and its true value and reward, I think we as shepherds are going to need to rethink how we actually view home and how we communicate it to our sheep. If our focus is not clear and our foundation is not solid and our actions are not congruent then we should not expect sheep to go in a direction we are not leading them.
However, once we develop a proper theology and a true commitment to getting home then we will be able to lead the flock because they will know that we know that this is the best route for both shepherd and sheep.
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