Retreat Venue: St.Mary’s Church Changanacherry.
Video #8
Episode #6
https://youtu.be/FWdscZQSFDk
The LORD is my shepherd;there is nothing I lack.
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The LORD is my shepherd;
there is nothing I lack.
In green pastures he makes me lie down;
to still waters he leads me. [Psalm 23: 1-2]
The shepherd brings his sheep to the green pastures. There is also still water nearby. What is this green pasture or still waters? These are symbols. Green pastures is the Word of God. As we read in the last episode, Lord Jesus the Shepherd give us Word of God. Still waters is the Holy Spirit. Jesus feeds us with the Word and the Holy Spirit. Written from the days of king David, every Psalm is about Christ Jesus. Psalms were written over 1000 years before Jesus. When we study Psalms, we see Christological mysteries in them. All the people of Israel including Mother Mary and St. joseph sang and prayed Psalms every day. Above all, Psalms were sung by Jesus himself daily. When we sing Psalms, we are praying with Jesus and all the saints. Thus, it becomes a rhythm of our own life.
“The Lord is my shepherd”. Do we believe this? The Lord is my shepherd There is nothing I lack! This is the reality. Jesus says “I am the Good Shepherd [John 10:11], “follow me”. Christ Jesus is the Good Shepherd. We need to go behind Him-follow Him. That alone is enough. We don’t have to overtake or pass Him. Simply follow Jesus and He is doing everything for us. However, for some reason we have been focusing on our own work since childhood. But Jesus tells us to “follow Me”. Jesus says: “… without me you can do nothing” [John 15:5].
Peter said Luke chapter 5, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets”. They caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They couldn’t pull the net. Unable to pull the net Peter called for help, James and John, who were in the other boat came ,helped Peter and filled their boat.
Let’s pay special attention here. What did Peter do at the Lake of Gennesaret? Peter followed Jesus’s instruction and lowered the net and caught great number of fish. The partners who came to the rescue did nothing and they got boat full of fish. Amazing! We know Peter worked hard all night and caught nothing till morning. But, what happened in the morning? When the Lord came in Peter’s boat and the Word of God in his heart, his life changed upsid e down. In the same way, the Lord is in our hearts. All we need to do is to do as He says. “There is nothing I lack”!
Certainly, there are many shortcomings, problems in our lives. In some situations, we don’t even know how to take the next step. But I believe that “Lord is my shepherd there is nothing I lack”. This is the “every word”. “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God”.[Matthew 4:4].
Nelson MCBS 