Devotional Guide - March 8

Friday, March 8, 2019
The Seekers: God and Man

“Behold I, I myself, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when some of his sheep have been scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day….  I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep…. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed….” Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-16

These words always make me feel both sad and exhilarated! Sad that I hear such a wistful note in God’s voice as he says, “I myself” and exhilarated as I realize anew that the very God of the universe is willing to do just that. He is willing to come and look for us when we get “scattered.”

Every once in awhile, there is some job that I want done – either at home or here at the office. Often very kind people offer to help, but I have a specific way I want it done. So I do it myself. I wonder if that is what God is saying here. Is this “seeking” just too important to leave to angels or mere mortals – even those who have committed their lives to Christ – to do the seeking? He wants to do it his way, the best way. “I will search, I will seek, I will shepherd.” That’s how important each of us is to our heavenly father.

He is in charge of everything He could call ten thousand angels to go here and there and look for his lost sheep, find even us and set us again on the right path. But no! God says, “I, I myself” will do this thing.

Prayer: Father, we praise you that you are our seeker—that you do the job yourself and do it perfectly! Amen.

“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
Lenten Devotional Guide
prepared for Homosassa United Methodist Church, Spring 2009
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Director