A shepherd’s job is monotonous and far from glamorous. And yet, God incarnate chose to call Himself the Shepherd. 

A 1986 documentary of a shepherd in Kent records his humdrum activities. For the large part, we are staring at a pasture and a shepherd watching his sheep. He feeds them and tends to them. There’s no thrill or self-seeking: just observation. After they eat, he takes them through the gate. He counts them as they enter. That particular day, he is one short of 90 sheep, so he closes the gate and goes after the one. While he rushes to find the lost one, he already assumes that the sheep is stuck by the creek in the briar where they went for food. And he is right. 

He steps into the ditch and guides the sheep who quickly sees the way the shepherd is wanting him to go and jumps up toward safety. The documentary starts with the shepherd saying that his entire mature life he has been a shepherd and he could want nothing more, adding, “Once a shepherd, always a shepherd.”

Matthew 9:36 says, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (NIV). He is always watching, feeding, caring, disciplining, but He knows we need his tender presence most to keep us out of trouble, to guide us, and comfort us.

This year was one of the toughest of my life with days where wolves of despair had me trapped. But what I wanted or prayed for were not objects of affection but the affection of my Shepherd. Age teaches us that stuff cannot comfort us. This year, I learned to seek and recognize His presence rather than immediate rescue from difficult situations. What good is endless miles of pasture without the Shepherd who keeps the wolves away and risks his own life for our sake? 

During this festive season, when we celebrate our King in a manger, let’s remember that The All Powerful One is still willing to be our Shepherd. He longs to take up that one job on the list that no one else wants, and for which most are not genuinely qualified. And in His usual absurdity, angels appeared to the shepherds that night to announce the Good Shepherd’s birth, the one who says “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9, NIV).

Merry Christmas!