Am I a good sheep?

Well I had a bad two days and I was not up to posting or any other activity. The chemo therapy is stronger than I anticipated. My body is now feeling all of its ugly side effects. Ok, so that’s my physical update, no worries, I can take it.

So for the last two mornings I have been awakened by the 23^rd Psalm being repeated in my head. You know, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want……” Typically when this happens I know God is trying to get something through my bald thick head. When I was a young Catholic I misunderstood the first part of this classic verse. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. What the heck does that mean? I shall not want Him? As I got older I understood the verse to mean that the Lord is my Shepherd and because of this truth I will not be left wanting. Wow, I will not be wanting for anything. If I’m not wanting then what am I? I’m satisfied, wow, even better. Ok so let’s have a little reality check shall we? Am I in want and do I feel satisfied? Most of us would answer yes to one and no to the other. So what’s the deal; is God not doing His part? God always does His part; He is perfect, we are imperfect.

The problem lies with the first few words of the verse. I would have added “if” at the start of the verse to make this a conditional promise. I believe that that’s exactly what it is. So the problem is with me; am I a good sheep? Sheep follow the shepherd; they know His voice and follow His direction. He will be faithful to lead them to good.

Lesson- we need to stop blaming God for our circumstance and focus our attention on being a good sheep; faithful and obedient.