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 PSALM 23

A sheep doesn't lead itself; it follows the Shepherd. The sheep trusts, submits to, and obeys the Shepherd because it has learned in following that the Shepherd knows best how to tend His sheep.

It is in the Shepherd that the sheep will know rest, hope, confidence and peace. It is in believing the Shepherd that we enter into His rest, the rest He has prepared for all who will but believe Him. 

The evidence that a sheep believes the Shepherd is seen in the sheep following the Shepherd. Life for a sheep is a changed life. It is a life of surrendered dependance, not some craven relinquishment, but a surrender that comes from confidence in the eternal love and faithfulness of the Shepherd.

It is in living dependance upon the Shepherd that the sheep enters into what it actually means to be a sheep, to be fully a sheep in every detail. Wholeness of life is found in believing and then receiving all the provision the Shepherd has in store for the sheep, day by day. 

The Shepherd will never leave or abandon His own sheep. He cares for them, calls them by name, causes them to hear and recognize His voice and to follow at the pace the Shepherd sets. The Shepherd does all He does for the sake of His sheep. 

Jesus Christ is that Good Shepherd who has laid down His life that those who will believe Him might enter into that singular peace known as eternal life. It is a life begun in the here and now that one day will fully be lived into because the Shepherd has promised it and is leading His sheep to it. Our Shepherd never fails to keep and fulfill His promises to us.

If you want to become fully human, the only possible way is to believe Him, receive His new life, and to follow the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ into wholeness, rest and peace.

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