The Lord is My Shepherd—We are a precious gift the Father has confided to Jesus. Thine they were: to me Thou gavest them. All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him that comes to me I will not cast out. This is the Father’s will, that I should not lose one of these precious ones He has given to me. This charge which the Father has given me is more precious than anything whatsoever.
Jesus sees his own raison d’etre as that of doing the will of the Father, and the will of the Father is precisely that He should care for each one of us and give us eternal life.
All that Jesus is precisely for me. His care of me never slackens.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I can want for nothing.” If I really believed this, how different my life would be! I would never willingly jib at what happens to me since I would everything as at least permitted by Him, knowing He will make everything turn to my good I would stop trying to run my own life, preventing this or that…I would cease to care for the judgements of others, whether they like me or not, whether they think well or ill of me. I would cease wanting to feel sure about everything, above all about my spiritual life: anxious, fearful, discouraged, plagued by guilt feelings… If my faith in the unfailing tender care of my Shepherd is real, how could I allow such self-occupation?
The Shepherd psalm is one Jesus must have prayed a thousand and more times to His Father. “The Lord carried you, as a man carries his child, all along the road you travelled”…at this hour you were led to the cross. Where are the nice green pastures on that stony and painful way? Were the still waters in His burning thirst? Did He feel His head and body were being washed and anointed with oil when the crown of thorns was pressing against His temples?
“He leads me along the right path: he is true to his name…Surely goodness and kindness shall follow me all the days of my life.”
Had Jesus not held firmly to this certainty, that whatever it seemed or felt like this was the truth, the real nature of things, then we would not have been redeemed. His faith would have failed. But as it proved, His faith remained steadfast and triumphed.
The Good Shepherd is risen. He who laid down His life for the sheep, who died for His flock. He is risen. Alleluia!
—Ruth Burrows, Through Him, With Him, In Him
El Señor es mi pastor— Somos un don precioso que el Padre le confió a Jesús. Tuyos eran: a mí me los diste. Todo lo que el Padre me da, vendrá a mí; y al que a mí viene, no le echo fuera. Esta es la voluntad del Padre: que no pierda a ninguno de estos preciosos que me ha dado. Este encargo que el Padre me ha dado es más precioso que cualquier cosa.
Jesús considera que su propia razón de ser es hacer la voluntad del Padre, y la voluntad del Padre es precisamente que Él cuide de cada uno de nosotros y nos dé la vida eterna.
Todo lo que Jesús es precisamente para mí. Su cuidado por mí nunca flaquea.
«El Señor es mi pastor; nada me falta». Si realmente creyera esto, ¡qué diferente sería mi vida! Nunca me burlaría voluntariamente de lo que me sucede, pues aceptaría todo como al menos permitido por Él, sabiendo que Él hará que todo se vuelva para mi bien. Dejaría de intentar controlar mi propia vida, impidiendo esto o aquello… Dejaría de preocuparme por los juicios de los demás, les guste o no, piensen bien o mal de mí. Dejaría de querer sentirme seguro de todo, sobre todo de mi vida espiritual: ansioso, temeroso, desanimado, plagado de sentimientos de culpa… Si mi fe en el tierno cuidado infalible de mi Pastor es real, ¿cómo podría permitirme tal egocentrismo?
El Salmo del Pastor es uno que Jesús debió orar mil veces a su Padre. «El Señor te llevó, como un hombre lleva a su hijo, por todo el camino que recorriste»… en esa hora fuiste conducido a la cruz. ¿Dónde están los hermosos pastos verdes en ese camino pedregoso y doloroso? ¿Acaso estaban las aguas tranquilas en su sed ardiente? ¿Sintió que Su cabeza y Su cuerpo eran lavados y ungidos con aceite cuando la corona de espinas presionaba Sus sienes?
“Me guía por el camino correcto: es fiel a Su nombre… Ciertamente el bien y la misericordia me seguirán todos los días de mi vida.”
Si Jesús no se hubiera aferrado firmemente a esta certeza, de que cualquier cosa que pareciera o sintiera era la verdad, la verdadera naturaleza de las cosas, entonces no habríamos sido redimidos. Su fe habría fallado. Pero como se demostró, Su fe permaneció firme y triunfó.
El Buen Pastor ha resucitado. Él que dio Su vida por las ovejas, que murió por Su rebaño. Él ha resucitado. ¡Aleluya!
—Ruth Burrows, Por Él, Con Él, En Él
