The Lord Is My Shepherd

  In my morning devotions this day, I considered the truths of Psalm 23. In verse one, the psalmist writes, 'The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.' Sometimes I feel like I do want and that my needs are not met. However, I was reminded that since I belong to the Lord on the basis of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ that He is my Shepherd and I am His sheep. He is the Good Shepherd and the Great Shepherd who always honors his Word. If I look to my Shepherd in trust, I shall not want. Because He is the Good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, He has pledged Himself to meet my needs. I was reminded that often the things I think are my needs really are not my true needs. My true needs are eternally oriented. That is, they are things, experiences, situations, people, circumstances and whatever else will build my character and transform me toward Christlikeness. I focus on the temporal. He focuses on the eternal so that during my temporal stay on earth, I can make eternal contributioms. His purpose for me is to point others to the eternal, to Him, to the reality of His gospel and its claims on their lives. He meets my needs in order to help meet their needs. 'The Lord is my sherpherd. I shall not want.' Psalm 23:1.