Enjoying Safe Pasture

God’s word is so rich in imagery, symbolism, and metaphors to help us to understand spiritual truths better.

When I think about safe pasture, I picture sheep grazing contently in a beautiful meadow or dale, unperturbed in a tranquil place void of danger and within eyeshot of the shepherd. Jeremiah 50:7 speaks of the people of God sinning against the Lord ‘their’ verdant pasture. Verdant is a word meaning lush with green vegetation. How precious it is to consider the Lord as our pasture, the place to feed and get sustenance! Psalm 100:3 states ‘We are His people, the sheep of His pasture’. We as sheep need to graze on the Lord.

When a sheep lands on its back, it becomes very vulnerable and helpless. It cannot get up by itself and can actually die within 24 hours without someone helping it get up on its feet again. It makes me think of the times we go through in life which can be so difficult and challenging. We may feel like a sheep that has landed on its back, unable to move forward and needing the good shepherd to get it back on its feet again. Through the hard and painful places of life, the compassionate shepherd is near and is ready to come and rescue us.

God wants us to be reliant on Him fully. There’s a reason He compares us to sheep. Sheep are, by nature, not good with direction! They are vulnerable and defenceless against predators and are easily distracted. We also need to be led by a shepherd or else we can wander off and get into danger. Sheep are not even so good at finding water and food for themselves. So, Psalm 23:1-3 illustrates beautifully the shepherd’s role in our lives. ´The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters, He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake.’ What a description!

Maybe you are needing your soul refreshed today or needing time out by quiet waters in the midst of a busy schedule. Or maybe you are in need of the shepherd’s guidance and direction in your life. And if you are reading this and feel as if life has hit you hard, and that you’re on your back struggling to get up, I want to encourage you that the shepherd is on His way. The precious news is the shepherd sees. He hears and loves His sheep. No matter where you are on your walk with Him today, He is inviting you to feed on His safe pasture and into deeper intimacy with Him as the good shepherd.