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Humble Hero
all who introduce something to take the place of Christ, to enter the
fold in some other way, are thieves and robbers.
The priests and rulers, the scribes and Pharisees, destroyed the
living pastures and defiled the wellsprings of the Water of Life.
Inspiration describes these false shepherds: “The weak you have not
strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound
up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought
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what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them.”
Ezekiel 34:4
.
Every heathen nation has had its great teachers and religious sys-
tems offering some other means of redemption than Christ, turning
people’s eyes away from the Father’s face and filling their hearts
with fear. Millions are burdened down under false religions, without
hope or joy here and with only a dull fear of the hereafter. Only the
gospel of God’s grace can lift up the soul. The love of God as seen
in His Son will stir the heart and arouse the powers of our being as
nothing else can. Whoever turns people away from Christ is turning
them away from the Source of true development, depriving them of
the hope and glory of life. He is a thief and a robber.
Responsibility of a Faithful Shepherd
In the East, a shepherd’s care for the flock was untiring and
constant. Raiding thieves or beasts of prey lay in wait to steal the
sheep. Shepherds watched their flocks at the peril of their own
lives. Jacob, who kept Laban’s flocks, said, “In the day the drought
consumed me, and the frost by night, and my sleep departed from
my eyes.”
Genesis 31:40
. While guarding his father’s sheep, the boy
David singlehandedly rescued the stolen lamb from the lion and the
bear.
A strong and tender attachment unites shepherds to the sheep in
their care. Every sheep has its name and responds to the shepherd’s
call. Likewise the divine Shepherd knows His flock that are scattered
throughout the world. Jesus says, “I have called you by your name;
you are Mine.”
Isaiah 43:1
. Jesus knows us individually and can
sympathize with our weaknesses. He knows the very house in which
we live. At times He has given directions to His servants to go to