The Psalmist said, “the Lord is my shepherd”. To say the Lord is my shepherd resounds a few Christian truths. Before we look into the depth of identifying with Christ by claiming to be His sheep we must examine our lives.

Do we follow where He leads? Are we glad to go where He directs? Do we welcome His staff when He deems the use of necessary? Can we discern His voice from that of a intruder?

To be His sheep reminds us some are not. With that in view we know we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the rulers of the darkness. Those who do not serve Christ, the Good Shepherd, serve the one who is at enmity with Christ. That is the devil.

After checking up against the above questions and truths we can now move forward in realizing the benefits of being a sheep and having The Lord as Shepherd!

Identified as a Sheep

  • Identifies us not as individuals but as a part of the flock

We have the benefit of other sheep (see Hebrews 10:24-25)

  • the flock provokes one another to love and good works

We have a body working with us in the one purpose of glorifying the Father

  • each believer is called to service (see Ephesians chapter 4)
  • each believer is gifted with gifts to sacrifice in service to God (Ephesians 2) In Ephesians 2 we see terms such as Gentiles, Aliens, us, our, commonwealth and others. These all identify us as part of something greater than ourselves. This is a good foundation for learning to serve among a group of like minded believers.

Identified by the Shepherd

  • He speaks to us and we know His voice
  • He knows when we are straying from His designated pasture
  • He corrects us with love
  • He corrects us with His Fathers honor in view
    • some can’t say the Lord is there shepherd. These people continue in sin without the benefits of the Shepherds staff rescuing and correcting us.

The above points scratch the surface of what it means to be identified as a sheep with the Lord as ”our” Shepherd.