The Good Shepherd

My devotional reading today was about being a good shepherd in today's terms. The "Life Question" at the end of the devotional asked, "What have you sacrificed for the sake of another person?" That question stomped down pretty hard on my toes. I stopped to think about it and I've been pretty selfish lately. Not only in dealing with the people around me, but in my time with God. This summer session I will be attending Church of Christ services each Sunday morning for a class project. This past Sunday I used that Sunday morning service as an excuse not to go to my church Sunday night. I have also been skipping out on choir practice to "do homework" which hasn't been getting done, even though I honestly have every intention of working on homework when I say that. I guess what I'm trying to say is that in order to be a good shepherd, you have to learn to be a good sheep. Isn't it wonderful that even when we stray, our shepherd will always come find us?

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." -John 10: 11-13 (NIV)