Eastertide Devotion – May 13

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1 Peter 2:25

Good Shepherd Sunday reminds us of Jesus and His great love for us.  It also reminds us that we act like sheep. Isaiah clearly declares:

“All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.”  Isaiah 53:6

Indeed there is no one in Christ’s flock, the Church, who deserves to be there. Every one of us, left to our own devices, would find ourselves lost and stranded in the wilderness of sin, death and the devil. The notion that church is for the good people is the false idea of the Pharisees.

St. Paul puts the record straight when he affirms, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” 1 Tim 1:15.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Each day we thank God that He has found us and made us His own.

Prayer: Thank you, Father, for sending the Good Shepherd to find me. Keep me safe in His flock, the Church.  Keep me from straying again. Amen.

Good Shepherd Window

First Lutheran Church

Papillion, NE 

(When I was pastor at First Lutheran, I could see this window every Sunday from the pulpit.)

God’s richest blessings in Christ,

Pastor Philip Quardokus