Daily Devotion

Selection Taken From:
A Year with God by R.P. Nettelhorst

Make this the year you let God's Word "dwell in you richly"---and marvel at the results! Each entry in this 365-day devotional features Scripture verses in which God speaks, accompanied by insights and applications to enhance your understanding. Learn what God says about hope and fear; perseverance and quitting; companionship and isolation; and more! 384 pages, softcover from Nelson, Copyright 2010.


Behold, the Days Are Coming
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the Loan. Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the Loan. "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the Lou).
"Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteous¬ness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. - Jeremiah 23:1-6 NKJV

It's hard to be the boss. Authority is a dangerous thing. The apostle James wrote that those who teach would be judged more harshly than others. Why? While each human being touches more people than he imagines, the impact of a teacher is far greater. A single teacher may train dozens, who then take the teacher's words to others, multiplying the effect exponentially. Similarly, "shepherds"—the leadership in Israel consisting of the king, the bureaucrats, and the religious establishment—affected the lives of all those around them.

The leaders of Israel had been made responsible for the spiritual safety of their people. But rather than leading them toward God, they led them away. They seduced them with other deities. God was going to take the power of the shepherds from them and pass it on to someone else, someone who would actually do right by those under them—a good shepherd.

Jeremiah prophesied while Zedekiah, whose name meant "righteousness of the Lord," ruled as the final king of Israel before Nebuchadnezzar took him into exile. God reassured the Israelites that one day they would have a king who actually lived up to that name, who would really be "the Lord our righteousness." God's words to Jeremiah found their fulfillment in Jesus, the son of David, the Good Shepherd (John 10:11).