“It’s that newspaper guy again,” the church secretary announced.
The pastor sighed as he took the phone. The editor’s voice sounded bored. “We got your column, but there wasn’t a title.”
The pastor gritted his teeth . . . literally . . . as he pondered his response. No title? How did that happen? Then he remembered how he’d been so intent on finishing his sermon that he had hurried through the column. Obviously, he sent it in without carefully checking it. After shuffling a stack of papers, he found his submission and returned to the phone.
“The column title is The Lord is My Shepherd.”
The pastor was about to hang up when he heard the editor’s still bored voice, “Okay, we have The Lord is My Shepherd. Is that all?”
For a split second, the pastor’s frustration found a voice. “Yes, the Lord is My Shepherd. That’s enough!” he barked before hanging up.
The pastor returned to his work, regretting his outburst. But his outburst didn’t stay in the room. When the column was published, the editor had entitled it, The Lord Is My Shepherd – That’s Enough.
Amusingly awkward, yet also entirely correct. Christ called Himself the Good Shepherd, using a familiar agricultural image. After all, His audience was well acquainted with shepherds and how they guided and provided for their flocks. And just as a human shepherd provides the sheep with everything they need, God does the same for us. Even the provision of His Son’s life to assure our salvation.
With the Lord as our perfect shepherd, what else do we need? Nothing. He is enough.
What are some ways you can thank God for His sufficiency?
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)
Anne Adams is a retired church staffer living in Athens, Texas, where she writes a historical column for the local newspaper. Her book Brittany, Child of Joy, tells about her mentally disabled daughter and was published in 1986 by Broadman. She has taught junior college history and has published in Christian and secular publications for forty years.