False Securities

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.

But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.

 

John 10:1-2

 

 

A shepherd's chief responsibility, in addition to leading his flock to green pastures and beside still waters, is to guard and protect his sheep at its most vulnerable moment—during the night as it slept. He would gather the sheep into caves or create fenced areas to keep predators from attacking at unsuspecting moments.

 

The sheep's survival depended upon his care and protection.

And Jesus used this metaphor of a shepherd to describe His love for us. He is the only one who can provide the security for our lives, the care and protection that we need from the pressures and issues of life.

 

But, sometimes, when we're most vulnerable, who do we really depend upon for our security?

 

Proverbs 4:23 warns us to "watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the issues of life." Rather than depending upon Jesus, the Good Shepherd, we seem to have a tendency to place our trust in everything else but He who gives us security.

Some look to:

 

• Success that provides them security.
• Are driven by a need to be financially secure in order to have security.
• Have a need to be accepted in order to have a sense of security.
• Seek positional authority and words of affirmation to provide them with satisfaction in having security.

If it's anything but Jesus that we look to for satisfaction and security, we allow it to rob ourselves from the true security and satisfaction that only He can bring. Everything else is but sources of false hopes and false securities. There is none other than the Good Shepherd that our lives should rely upon.