Where Are My Shepherds?

Where, Oh where have My shepherds gone: those who were called to oversee My flocks? For the paddock gates have been left open and My sheep are running astray. Who, then, shall safeguard the lives of My newly born lambs, lest they be snatched away when the devourer comes? Though they provide food for the troughs, My shepherds have been neglectful, as they spend little time actually tending the sheep, leaving My herds to mostly fend for themselves. 

So then, from their hands shall I remove their staffs, and lift the mantle of authority from upon their shoulders. I have measured the weight of their transgressions and found them severely wanting, and therefore, they are no longer fit to keep My sheep. How swiftly then, shall My hand move amongst these herdsmen, putting an abrupt end to the oversight of many, for they no longer have My confidence, and so shall be relieved from duty.

Yet out from the midst of My flocks shall new overseers emerge, like David of old, who killed a lion and a bear while tending his father’s flocks. So, too, shall these shepherds then contend for My sheep, for so fierce is their love for the people of God. These overseers are of a different breed, for they shall not lead from out in front, but within the midst of My flocks, as it is only the Father’s interests that these shepherds serve. To live a life worthy of the title, ” son” or ” daughter”, is to them, in itself, a great reward.

So rise up you ‘shepherdesses of Zion’, and claim your staffs, you ‘overseers of the King’, for My sheep have need of your kindness! And so absent ordination and title you are charged and commissioned to lead because I have called you “qualified”. Desire not the limelight, nor seek a platform, for I tell you now that I am done with this practice, as this is not the intended role of an overseer. Ah, but see I am doing a new thing amongst My children, for in this season I have come to revive the ancient form and function of the early Church, where ‘humble and holy’ were My households.

Then again I say, “Rise up you overseers who hail from Aslan’s country! Listen, your Master is calling. For very soon His pasturelands shall be overflowing with new lambs, which shall require your compassionate care and loving instruction. So, no longer sit, but stand. Take up your staff, and, even now, shepherd My sheep!