My husband and I are part of a small group that studies the Bible together on Monday evening. Last night our lesson was about Jesus being the Good Shepherd and our responsibility to be shepherds ourselves. Let me share with you a small portion of the lesson that was eye-opening to me.

Jesus did not call Himself just any shepherd. He is the GOOD shepherd. He fulfilled all that the Father told Him to do, ultimately laying down His life so that we can share eternal life with the Father. Good shepherds in the field have to protect their sheep from danger: the wolves, the lions, the terrain. They also have to keep their sheep from wandering off. I’m sure you have heard before that sheep are dumb; they wander away and have even been known to step off of cliffs or into culverts and get stuck. So, the responsibility for taking care of sheep is not to be taken lightly; it’s a 24/7 job for those who choose to accept it.

Jesus knows each of His sheep. By the way, in case you don’t know it, we are the sheep to which He is referring. He knows our weaknesses, our strengths, our needs and our failings. Real shepherds spend so much time with their sheep that they get to know all of them well, the ones who need a little extra care of the ones who are stubborn and need to be cajoled some. Likewise, Jesus knows each of us, and the really good news is that He loves us in spite of our shortcomings.

In the book of Jeremiah, God promises the people to give them shepherds. Note that the word is plural and this is where the lesson got very personal for me. Not only are we sheep, but we are also called to be shepherds. We minister to other sheep just as God has ministered to us. Who in your life told you about the Lord to begin with? Was there someone on whom you depended for advice and to lead you along the way until you felt steady on your feet on the new path to eternal life? For me, it was my neighbor Verna. She gave me a Bible, told me about the Lord and met with me regularly to discuss God’s Word. She also invited me to church and transported me there. She was my shepherd for a good while, until I could stand securely alone. I didn’t know at the time that she was being a shepherd, but I recognize that now.

Whatever shepherd God has sent to lead you is taking you out of the wilderness of sin into the land where there is a river of life and no lack of any good thing. The wilderness is where we used to live as sinners, content to follow the path the rest of the world was following. But the shepherd that God sent led us away, gently and with encouragement and truth. We are to lead others in like manner so that they, too, can be freed from the sin that has held them captive for years. Thus we become shepherds to others just as Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

Peter, the “rock upon which the church was built,” was asked by Jesus three times if he loved Him. Each time, Peter answered affirmatively, getting hurt that the Lord seemed to need that reassurance. What Jesus needed from Peter was a commitment that he would become a shepherd and feed His sheep. Jesus is not here on earth walking around now as He did with Peter. But He left a job for Peter, and for us, to do. We are to continue to feed His sheep. The baby lambs (new converts) need the most care, then the yearlings (a little more mature, but not grown yet) and finally we can let them wander and become shepherds to other sheep. We are called to be shepherds, following the example of Jesus and not leaving anyone to wander alone in the wilderness.

I like this analogy and how simple it seems now, but I honestly had not really thought about it before. Those who mentored me and helped to make me into the Christian I am today were shepherding me. I was a lost sheep, wandering in the wilderness of sin, before Verna chose to step out and lead me into the safety of the arms of the Good Shepherd. May each of us take this responsibility seriously and look for people who need to be led to the truth. And once we have found them, we cannot just hand them a Bible and walk away. We need to be there to answer questions, to study with them and to set them firmly on the right path to eternal life. Jesus commanded Peter to “feed His sheep.” Can we do any less?