Heart of a Shepherd

“Now, behold, I release you today from the chains on your hands. If it seems good to you to come with me to Babylon, come, and I will look after you well, but if it seems wrong to you to come with me to Babylon, do not come. See, the whole land is before you; go wherever you think it good and right to go. If you remain, then return to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon appointed governor of the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people. Or go wherever you think it right to go.” So the captain of the guard gave him an allowance of food and a present, and let him go.” (Jeremiah 40:4–5, ESV)

We make thousands of choices every day. Most of them are inconsequential. Things like which shoe do I lace up first. Which button on my shirt do I affix first, and so on. Most of these are inconsequential Yet, there are some that quite important.

In the pastorate there are many choices that we must make that have important consequences. This is because we are dealing with other people’s spiritual lives. The question is this. From where do these choices come and how do we make such important decisions.

When we make spiritual choices, they cannot be made from the leading of our own fleshly impulses. They must be made by the leading of the Spirit, the softened heart which is removed from its callousness. This is the heart of a good shepherd.

In this passage, we see that from the survivors of the Babylonian conquest Nebuchadnezzar had taken the most prosperous and brightest to Babylon and left the poor and lowly to tend the fields in Judah. Jeremiah was one of those chained and marching with the captives to Babylon.

However, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard did something unusual. He removed the chains from Jeremiah’s wrists and allowed him to go free, free to go wherever he desired.

So, where did Jeremiah choose to go? Well, he had choices, He could go with the captives to Babylon. Now this may seem as the worst place to go, but in this option there he was promised the best care. He would have been in a favorable position and experienced ample provision.

Another option was to stay in the land of Judah with those who remained to tend to the land. Here, the land and the city of Jerusalem had been devastated. Nebuchadnezzar had appointed Gedaliah as governor of the defeated land. Nebuzaradan told the prophet that if he stayed that it would be best for him to go to the governor.

What did Jeremiah choose? He decided to stay in the land with the poorest of people who were working to make some semblance of a normal life out of the ruins. Jeremiah’s choice shows his heart for the people and the land. He had a shepherd’s heart.

Over my time of ministry, I have seen pastors make many decisions. However, at times it seems as some made decisions, not from the heart of the shepherd. Why do I say this? It is because their choices reflected motives that did not line up with that of a loving shepherd. They often seemed more concerned about building their empire, or their reputation, than the people of God. The result of this lack of heart, a lack of love for the purposes of God and His people often hurt the very thing they were seeking. They lacked the heart of a shepherd. The good shepherd loves the sheep and will lay down his life for them. Unfortunately, this type of shepherding seems rare today. The church needs shepherds, good shepherds, pastors who love God and His people. When people sense the shepherd’s heart of love, they will naturally follow him and readily support him through thick and thin.