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A Closer Walk

"Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand...," Psalm 95:6-7 NASB. We are the people of His pasture. We city folk don't often think about livestock grazing in a pasture. With a little reflection we realize that cattle, goats, and sheep grazing in a pasture are in a very relaxing situation. They are out in a field with no one bothering them. It's quiet. Just them and the other livestock. They have no responsibilities. Their job, as long as they are out there, is to eat and sleep. That's it. Well, and occasionally make baby livestock.

Who provides the pasture for the livestock? Our God and his agent the farmer. The cattle, goats, and sheep have no responsibility whatsoever to provide the pasture. That is the responsibility of our God and His farmer. The farmer has the responsibility of purchasing the pasture and maintaining it. If the farmer decides to turn his pasture into a semi truck and trailer salvage yard that is not going to be a very good place for livestock to graze. With a little maintenance (and maintenance may be too strong a word) the farmer's livestock will have a wonderful place of peace and tranquility in which to graze.
Our God has an even bigger responsibility than the farmer. He must provide the rain, and the sunshine for the grass to grow. And if you have ever mowed a lawn you know that generally the grass just keeps on growing. Because that is what God created it to do. Our Lord must also cause the alfalfa to grow so that it can be baled to feed the livestock during the winter when the grass is dormant. And our God and His agent the farmer working together make a really good team.
We are also the sheep of God's hand. As the sheep we have no responsibility to provide and maintain the pasture. That again is the responsibility of our Lord and His agent the farmer. And the sheep have no responsibility to provide the water to drink, for that matter. God and the farmer's responsibility. As the sheep our job is to eat and sleep, and occasionally make baby sheep. We sheep depend on our God for protection to keep the wolves away. We depend on our God for provision for our sustenance. If the Lord and His farmer don't do their jobs, we the sheep can't do our job. Being the sheep we are utterly and completely dependent.
The psalmist encourages us to worship and bow down and kneel before God, who is our Maker. He is worthy of our worship as our Maker and Creator. He is worthy of us bowing down and acknowledging to ourselves and to our God that between us and Him we know which one is God and which one isn't. He is worthy of us kneeling before Him as we seek His face and desire to be in His presence.
We are the people of God's pasture and the sheep of His hand. What an altogether awesome place to be!
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever," Psalm 23:1-6 KJV.

 

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