Surely your goodness and
mercy will follow me
all the days of my life, and
I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:6
One of Mary Louise's favorite sayings is that each of us should look like a sheep from the front and shepherds from behind.
You know what that means, right? From the front, we should look like sheep ... because we're eager to follow after pastors, spiritual mentors, and Jesus himself, right? Meanwhile, from the back, we should look like shepherds, investing our lives in others, mentoring them in wisdom and Word.
On another day, I'll ask you who you are mentoring! It's important. We learn five times more as a teacher than a student. And Jesus' preeminent call is for each of us to "make disciples" of others (see Matthew 28). Yes, on another day, I'll ask who is following after you as a sheep follows a shepherd. But today I have another question ...
In today's passage, if the Lord is my/our Shepherd, and you are a faithful, following sheep in his pasture, what is following you?!
Read the verse.
Do you see it?
So many go chasing after happiness. If so, we're pointed in the wrong direction. We need to keep Jesus in front of us - not some temporary, illusive, fickle, goal of some transient human emotion. Rather, if we want to find blessing, we simply need to follow the Lord ... and then "goodness and mercy (and every other human blessing) will follow (after us) all the days of (our) lives."
In other words, if you want blessing, chase God ... don't chase the things of the world.
In Christ's Love,
a guy who thinks
life would be easier
if I were a dog --
I'd be fed, well-rested,
and busy chasing
after good things, like
play-balls and squirrels
(Wait, that's what God
wants to give us.
Follow the good master
and life is a blessing.)
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