The Good Shepherd

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. - John 10:12-13

In John 10, Jesus characterizes himself as the good shepherd. If you are not a follower of the good shepherd, then you are under the custody of the hired hand. Whereas the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, the hired hand flees on the first sign of danger because he "cares nothing for the sheep."

The hired hand is anything or anyone that leads us away from Jesus Christ. For many of us, it is our family, work, school, recreation, entertainment, politics, health, marriage, unconfessed sin, anger, etc. We are following the hired hand who has no interest in us when we are not listening and following Christ.

Dear Church, how are you tempted to go astray from Christ, our good shepherd? Let us resist the temptation and run toward Jesus Christ.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. - James 4:7