Where Are You Walking?

     Have you ever found yourself in a rut? Just doing the same thing over and over, no matter how destructive it is to you or your circumstances!
     Sheep are notorious creatures of habit. Sheep will walk the same path over and over until they create huge ruts and they will continue walking in their own manure and urine. Soon, it becomes detrimental to their health as they deal with the bacteria and disease that grows in the ruts. Sheep will graze in the same hills until they graze it to the bare ground and turn it into a desert waste.
     Sheep will pollute their own drinking water until it becomes corrupt with disease and parasites. This is why a shepherd cannot leave his flock to lead themselves. They will lead themselves to destruction. One of the greatest responsibilities of a shepherd is to keep their flock moving. He plans out a grazing pattern for the year to assure that his sheep get the greatest fields but do not destroy them. Then he constantly watches his flock and the land to make sure his plan is working. A good shepherd is going to lead his sheep on paths that are green, water that is pure, and provides for their needs. Sheep may not move to new ground themselves, but when their shepherd leads them to new pastures they are delighted with their fresh feeding ground.
     Scripture points out that most of us are stiff-necked and stubborn. We prefer to follow our own fancies and turn to our own ways. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own ways” (Isaiah 53:6). Just as sheep will blindly, habitually, stupidly follow another along the same trails until they become ruts that erode into gigantic gullies, so we humans cling to the same habits that we have seen in other lives. Turning to ‘my own way’ simply means doing what I want. It implies that I feel free to assert my own wishes and carry out my own disease. And this I do in spite of every warning. Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seems right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death.
     Jesus told us that following Him means denying ourselves daily. Now most Christians would say that they follow Christ. However, not so many follow Christ to new grounds by denying what they want. Look at the following attitude check list to see if your attitude and actions allow you to be led to the path of righteousness.

1> Instead of loving myself most I am willing to love Christ most and others more than myself.
2> Instead of being one of the crowd I am willing to be singled out, set apart from the gang.
3> Instead of insisting on my rights I am willing to forego them in favor of others.
4> Instead of being “boss” I am willing to be at the bottom of the heap.
5> Instead of finding fault with life and always asking “why?” I am willing to accept every circumstance of life in an attitude of gratitude.
6> Instead of exercising and asserting my will, I learn to cooperate with His wishes and comply with His will.
7> Instead of choosing my own way I am willing to choose Christ’s way: simply to do what He asks me to do.

     When your Good Shepherd leads you, you have two choices. You ‘can go on’ with Him or you ‘can go back’ from Him. What is your choice!

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still water. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

Proverbs 23:1-3

Information taken from the book A shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by Phillip Keller