Birthday Reflections

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I am latching on to 4 verses that I will take as promises, themes, and mission statements into my beginning of the new year (aka - birthday).

Each of these passages has one thing in common: a shepherd. 

David is the traditional, original psalmist, and a shepherd.

Jacob was a shepherd with lots of shepherds working for him.

Many of the characters in Hebrews 11 were shepherds.

Jesus calls himself, "the Good Shepherd."

This is the year I officially retired as a salaried shepherd and enter into that era that I often longed for, pastoring without pay. I know that whatever I do for a living, at the heart of it, will be the pastoral call.

To care for and gather the flock will continue to be the mission and motive of all.

The verses come from today's Common Lectionary readings and I will meditate upon them and see new treasures and applications in them as time goes by.

I will probably do a blog before the end of the day.

"Surely the Lord is in this place-- and I did not know it!" - from Genesis 28

Prayer Response: God, may I be continually aware of your presence.

"Father of orphans, defender of widows,
God in his holy habitation!
God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom ..." - from Psalm 68

Prayer Response: God, may I share your heart for those who need you.

"All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland."
-from Hebrews 11

Prayer Response: God, may I live by faith until I die in faith, always focused on home.

"So there will be one flock, one shepherd." -from John 10

Prayer Response: May I join you in gathering and never scattering.

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No wonder his presence was announced to shepherds:

Here the scriptures are in context:

Genesis 28:10-22
Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

And the Lord stood beside him and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you."

Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place-- and I did not know it!" And he was afraid, and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.

He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you."

Hebrews 11:13-22
All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth, for people who speak in this way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

If they had been thinking of the land that they had left behind, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.

By faith Abraham, when put to the test, offered up Isaac. He who had received the promises was ready to offer up his only son, of whom he had been told, "It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you."

He considered the fact that God is able even to raise someone from the dead-- and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back. By faith Isaac invoked blessings for the future on Jacob and Esau.

By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, "bowing in worship over the top of his staff."

By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his burial.

John 10:7-17
So again Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.

And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.

So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.

"Father of orphans, defender of widows,
God in his holy habitation!
God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom ..." - from Psalm 68

I invite you to join my birthday offering today: City Without Orphans