Shepherding includes feeding, as the nursing mother feeds the baby for the baby to grow, as mentioned in 1 Peter 2:2. In this way the Lord commissioned Peter to feed His lambs and shepherd His flock on His behalf (John 21:15-17). He also raised up those such as Peter to be His deputy shepherds to feed His lambs and shepherd His flock (Eph. 4:11; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
First Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, long for the guileless milk of the word....” I recall my experience and it is exactly so. I loved to read books, and I did so with diligence. When I was saved, I began to love the Bible and enjoyed reading the word of God. Whenever I read it, I was enlightened and sensed its incomparable sweetness. At that time I was not yet married. I loved the Bible to such an extent that every night after praying on my knees by my bed, I still would not put the Bible down. Rather, I would take the Bible with me to bed and place it by the pillow. After I read it again for a short while under the lamp, I felt so sweet. When I woke up in the morning, I would quickly reach for the Bible and read it. Of course, as I look back, I admit that was a grace given to me by God. By loving the Bible and longing for the milk in the word, I received the Lord’s feeding and shepherding.
Furthermore, in Song of Songs the Lord instructs His lover to go forth on the footsteps of His flock and be at the place where He pastures His sheep (S.S. 1:7-8). Later, He also pastures His flock among the lilies, that is, among those who seek the Lord and who live a life of trusting in God with a pure heart (2:16; 6:3).
The Gospel of John tells us not only that the Lord is the life (11:25; 14:6) but also that the Lord is the good Shepherd who came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (10:10-11). He Himself is also our pasture for us to eat freely of Him and be nourished by Him (10:9).
Furthermore, the Gospel of John tells us that the Lord as the good Shepherd would lay down His life to form the Jewish believers and the Gentile believers into one flock under the shepherding of Himself as the one Shepherd (10:14-16).
The believers throughout the generations have been under the shepherding of the Lord as the good Shepherd (1 Pet. 2:25). As the Chief Shepherd (5:4) and the great Shepherd of God’s flock (Heb. 13:20), He will shepherd us for eternity as the Lamb of God and guide us to springs of waters of life for us to have eternal satisfaction, without thirst or hunger (Rev. 7:16-17). By this He accomplishes a great part of God’s organic salvation.
We all were regenerated and are under the shepherding of the Lord as the good Shepherd. Thus, we partake of God’s life and are nourished and grow unto maturity in it (Eph. 4:13b; Col. 1:28), manifesting the function of God’s life in us for the accomplishment of God’s eternal economy and the achievement of God’s eternal purpose.
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