THE SHEPHERD’S CORNER

This week Santy and I were pretty much home all week-long, sick with and recuperating from flu. Thank God we are now well and thank you for praying for us. On Friday I got a call from a friend whose mother was in ICU; she wanted me to come and pray for her. After spending time in the hospital, when I was about ready to head for home, I got a text message from our daughter who asked me to come and watch her kids while she took a nap. So, I went there.

The truth was, I didn’t feel like going there because having been sick for a few days, I was still tired. But I still went because I knew she needed me; she was so much more tired than I. And, I also wanted to see our grandchildren whom I had not seen for a couple of weeks due to being sick with flu on and off for the past a couple of weeks. When I got there, the door swung opened, I saw our daughter was standing there with the three musketeers. The moment these little men saw me, they just rushed to my arms and didn’t let go of me.

The almost two hours I spent there was tiring; I must say watching little children is the most tiring job in the world. But going home I felt like a six-million-dollar man. There is nothing like being tightly embraced by these little hands around our necks—and not let go. Thinking of and putting others’ needs ahead of those of ours will make us feel like six-million-dollar men and women, because we’ll see much and receive much, from Our Good Shepherd. He will put His arms around us and not let go when He sees our obedience.

In his book, Knowing God, J. I. Packer writes that what matters is not that we know God but rather that “He knows me. I am graven on the palms of His hands. I am never out of His mind.” You see, obedience is a natural response to being loved—much loved.

Pastor Paul