He Is Our Good Shepherd
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know about you, but it’s a full-time job with me just living everything I preach. I may be
especially anointed in teaching and preaching, but I’m not any more anointed to live it than
anyone else. If someone is preaching something, but they don’t live it, they’re a hypocrite. You
are, too. There aren’t two sets of rules. Everyone wants there to be a different set of rules for the
preacher than for the rest of the believers, but there isn’t. We’re supposed to lead by example. He
said to not just be lords over God’s heritage, but examples to the flock. Paul talked about that. He
said to follow him as he follows the Lord.
What about the Lord? What is He doing? Is He saying, “Do this,” but doing something else? Is
the Father God saying, “Do this,” but He’s not doing it? Is He saying you’re supposed to take
care of your own, and if you don’t provide for your own, you’re denying the faith and are worse
than an infidel (1 Timothy 5:8), but then He doesn’t provide for His own? Does He have a
double standard? I assure you, God is the definition of just and fair, perfect and right, and He
never told you to do anything He hasn’t already done and is doing to perfection. He’s our
Example. Jesus did it following the Father’s example, and we are to follow His example.
With that in mind, we will look at Ezekiel 34. In this chapter, he really reproves and corrects
some shepherds. They needed to be corrected because of the bad things they were doing and the
good things they were not doing. Who is the Great Shepherd? The Lord is. You know, God the
Father Himself is called a Shepherd as well.
The New International Version and the King James Version both say similar things in Genesis
49:24. He is called, “the Mighty One of Jacob… the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.”
Who is the Mighty One of Jacob? He is God the Almighty, the Father. He is also called the
Shepherd and the Rock of Israel. Is He your Rock? Is He also your Father? Is He also your
Shepherd? Is He a good one? Well, what do good shepherds do? They take care of the flock, in
every way.
In Ezekiel 34, we can see more clearly what this has to do with healing. We’re answering the
question: Is it God’s will to heal all? We are sure it’s God’s will for all of us to be healed today
because He is our Good Shepherd.
Verse 1 says, “And the Word of the L
ORD
came to me, saying,” to the prophet Ezekiel, “Son of
man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel,” and as you keep reading, note that he’s not
talking about them shepherding sheep or goats. He’s talking about the leaders of the people. “Say
unto them, Thus saith the Lord G
OD
unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that
do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” How can you recognize a real
shepherd? He is going to be feeding.
Have you ever seen a rancher drive through on his tractor or truck, especially in wintertime when
there is no grass around? Those cows know the sound of that truck. Those sheep or those horses
or livestock know the sound of that tractor. They hear when it starts up, and they’ll all leave and
start coming to the fence. Or they come up off the trail. How do you know it’s really the rancher?
He’s not just sightseeing and trying to pet the cows. He’ll have something in the wagon. It’s true,
