27 - Shepherds and Wolves

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is kind and compassionate. When He began His ministry He introduced Himself this way:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord” (Lk 4:18, 19; Isa 61:1, 2). This is why the Father sent Him to earth, and this is His heart toward us: to save, to release, to heal, and to set free. He’s a good shepherd. And when He comes to live inside us He changes our heart to make it like His, and in doing so turns us into shepherds too. All of us. Every single one. How could it be any other way? If we have the Good Shepherd living inside, how could we not love His sheep? God is love, and if He lives inside me, how could I not live a love-filled life? (1Jn 4:15, 16) Which is why Peter instantly knows Simon isn’t saved. Simon said he believed and had been water baptized. He’d hung around with Philip and watched him minister to the sick and oppressed. And then when Peter and John arrived he had been amazed at what he saw when people received the Holy Spirit. Now he wanted that same power, but he wanted it for wrong reasons. In spite of his confession of Christ his heart hadn’t changed. He wasn’t a shepherd, he was a wolf.