When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw this large crowd, and his heart was filled with pity for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.
—Mark 6:34 (GNT)
As a believer, you must understand that God does not want you to be a Christian without a shepherd. He doesn’t want you to be a Christian who is answerable to no one. Rather, He wants you to be under the authority of a shepherd because this is a system He has created to equip and establish you in Christ Jesus.
The Bible says, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—”
—Ephesians 4:11–15 (NKJV)
Did you see that? He deliberately appointed these offices to prepare you for Christ’s service and to build you up until you come to a complete understanding of the truth. He made sure these offices were instituted to help you grow into spiritual maturity, where you will no longer be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine.
The benefits are enormous, but one of the most important benefits of faithfully submitting to a shepherd is that it helps you stay in Christ and not fall away as some have done today. Over the years, I have carefully studied those who have backslidden, and I noticed that they either didn’t have a shepherd in their lives or were not faithfully submitted to the one they had. As a result, it was easy for the devil to trick them out of Christ.
But this should not be the case for you. Choose to be different and faithfully submit to a shepherd. When you do this, you are the one who will benefit from it all the days of your life. Hallelujah!
Today’s Rhema
As long as you are faithfully submitted to a shepherd assigned to you by God, the devil will never be able to get you!
Confession for the Day
Father, I am grateful for this timely truth. I receive grace and wisdom to faithfully submit to the authority You have placed over my life, in Jesus’ name. Amen!
