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| From the Painting "The Good Shepherd" Copyright 2013 S.D. Harden All Rights Reserved. |
Psalm 23 is known as The Shepherd
Psalm. It’s one of my favorite Psalms in the Bible.
Jesus Christ is our Good
Shepherd. He said, “My sheep respond to
my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me, and I give them eternal
life. They will never be lost, and no one will tear them away from me.” ~ John
10:27,28
Sometimes our Good Shepherd may ask
us to go down a path we may be afraid to follow. Yet God’s word assures us that
Christ always leads us in paths of righteousness. (Psalm 23:3).
The dictionary defines the word
“righteousness” as “justice, decency, honesty, blamelessness, virtue, and
morality.”
The NIV bible translates Psalm 23:3:
“He guides me along the
right paths for his name’s sake.”
The way I
understand it, God won’t ever guide us to do something that is contrary to His
word.
In my painting above, I have
illustrated the idea of our Good Shepherd inviting His child to go with Him on
a journey.
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| Detail: "The Good Shepherd" © SDH |
He looks gently into her eyes and she gazes back at Him as He holds
her hand suggesting that they are good friends.
Jesus said, “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John
15:14) Jesus loves His child deeply.
Because He is the Good Shepherd as well as her Creator, He knows what is best
for her. He encourages her to do what He knows is the right path for her.
Yet the child hesitates to go with
Her Master. There is that tiny sense that she does not fully trust the Good
Shepherd.
She stands just behind him in the
painting. Her feet seem paralyzed and rooted into the sand like some sort of
petrified tree as her Shepherd lovingly assures her that He will always be with
her throughout the journey and that His rod and staff will comfort her.
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| Detail: "Good Shepherd" © SDH |
Though she has given one of her
hands to her Lord in partial submission to His will, she holds the other behind
her back, symbolizing her reluctance to step out in faith with Him on their
journey and her inner fears. Yet He lovingly smiles at her. He knows every
weakness, every fear. He nether judges, nor condemns her.
How often do we, when presented
with new unsettling challenges to our faith, or a new dark journey in life,
question the wisdom of God? How often do we hold back from fully trusting our
Lord when He asks us to follow Him down a new unfamiliar path?
Like the little child in the
painting, we have given Jesus one of our hands, but we reluctantly hold the
other behind our back and stand with our feet rooted in the ground when He asks
us to please trust Him though we may not understand the way He is asking us to
follow Him.
Jesus once told His disciples on
the cusp of His crucifixion: “I
have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.” ~John 16:12
He then said that the Holy Spirit
would come to them and lead them into all truth.
Our Lord asks us to walk by faith,
to trust Him and to listen for His voice every day, one day at a time, with our
hands in the hands of our Good Shepherd.
Just as the little child in this
painting is walking with her Shepherd, so we must walk. And though like her we
are often afraid, despite our fears, like her we must keep our hand in our
Shepherd’s hand and our eyes on Him, abiding in Him in our hearts daily if we
are to hear His voice.
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you
into all the truth.” ~John 16:13
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| Detail "The Good Shepherd" © S.D.Harden All Rights Reserved. |
*Lord Jesus please help me give
You both my hands in total surrender when You ask me to journey with You down
the road You have prepared for me before the foundation of this world. Help me
not doubt but believe all of your promises to me and live by faith. In Thy holy
name I ask. Amen.
*I have reproduced a copy of my painting "The Good Shepherd" on a greeting card and it is available through my Etsy Shop online.
Cards can be shared or framed. If you would
like to purchase a copy please visit my Etsy store athttp://www.etsy.com/shop/WingsPublications
“The Good
Shepherd” Illustration © Suzanne Davis Harden 2013 All Rights Reserved.
Unto The Least of These: Trusting God's Guidance © 2013 Suzanne Davis Harden, All Rights Reserved.
Unto The Least of These: Trusting God's Guidance © 2013 Suzanne Davis Harden, All Rights Reserved.
Thank you for sharing your insights on Psalm 23 and for sharing your artwork.
ReplyDeleteScripture tells us that the good shepherd lays down his own life for the safety of his sheep. Jesus did that for us at the cross. And not only does he lead us in the "way we should go", he is the "way, the truth, and the light".
Thank you for your kind words! I appreciate you sharing your insight about our Good Shepherd too! God Bless You! :)
ReplyDeleteThat is beautiful, my dear, sweet friend, and so is your lovely artwork. God bless you. Love you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, sweet Cathy, for your encouraging comment! God Bless you always~ love & hugs, Suzanne :)
ReplyDelete