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Christmas Reading Plan | Week 3 | Day 3
Prayer
Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Pray that God would open your eyes to wonderful things from His word today.
Bible Reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16
Read these verses three times slowly.
“‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
Reflection & Questions
At the time of this writing, God is sick and tired of the leaders of Israel who are unjustly “shepherding” God’s people. They take advantage of people and they rule unjustly. Now in verse 11 God says, He is ready to rule the people. And what follows are the characteristics of what type of shepherd to the people He will be.
Notice some of the characteristics of the Good Shepherd. He is going to gather the shattered, He is going to lead them to green rich pastures, and He Himself will take care of the sheep. God always has a personal touch with His sheep. He is leading, He is guiding, He is protecting. All because God can, and God cares.
This Christmas season have you forgotten that? Are you on spiritual autopilot expecting your life with Jesus to coast because right now is just too busy and crazy? God wants to show you better pastures. He wants to show you life with Him, for Him and protected by Him. Are you ready for it?
- Where has the busyness of the Christmas season caused you to feel overwhelmed?
- With that in mind, the next time you get overwhelmed, how can you recognize God’s personal presence as your Shepherd?
Prayer
God I recognize that today will be busy, and tomorrow will be, too, help me to recognize you are the Shepherd by my side guiding me.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
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Questions?
Ed Applegate
