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As followers of Jesus, we are often called to step out of comfort into the unknown. But we are not called to go alone. Like sheep being led by a shepherd, following Jesus leads us to greener pastures with the promise of safety and life in abundance. There is a season for everything under heaven, and there comes a time to leave comfort behind to share this life we’ve found to others.

Jesus’ promise is this: 

“If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.” – John 10:9-10

Finding abundant life doesn’t mean life will be easy, (in fact, living a life for God is full of struggle!) but the peace of God beyond all understanding gives life its sweetness. As we step into leadership, God promises to lead the way.

I love exploring new places, but I am prone to wandering and getting lost. My family likes to go camping in remote places and explore the lightly trodden trails that lead out of town. When my dad joins me on a new trail, we decide to turn around at a certain time so he knows when to expect me back if I get too far ahead. Usually, this is not a problem, but when thirty-seven and a half minutes turned out to be only halfway up a long hill, all I could imagine was the grandest view at the top. I decided to continue running towards it, but the top seemed to recede further into the distance. Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty, until suddenly I was at forty-six minutes and the view was shrouded in clouds. I had reached the top, but all the work I had done to get there suddenly didn’t seem worth it and I felt alone. Out in the middle of nowhere and mildly lost, I got a call from my dad. He was worried and waiting for me a few miles back. His worry came from a place of love. Just as I had disobeyed and worried my dad as I wandered farther in pursuit of something that seemed exciting, so too do we find things of this world so exciting that we sometimes lose sight of our Father in heaven. 

It’s easy to get lost when we stray away and disobey our Shepherd. Even good things can take the place of God in our lives and become our central focus. Sometimes, they can become an escape to facing the truth.

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Wanderers by Nature

By nature, we are wanderers. As sinners, we are prone to wandering away from God. In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon talks about the futility of wisdom, pleasure, work, power, and wealth. Life is unfair and uncertain because the world’s promises simply don’t hold. He asks, where does it all lead if not for God? But there is justice and peace when we allow God to work through our lives. When God is central in all areas of our life, we can enjoy life to the fullest. Work for the world is draining, but if we allow God to choose the path we take in life, then we can be at peace in the journey like sheep being led to pasture.

Solomon says, “the words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd.” (Ecclesiastes 12:11).

The “goads” refer to a tool the shepherds used to point herds of sheep in the right direction. The Word of God is a tool full of spiritual wisdom and truth that is meant to be firmly embedded in us to lead us to the pastures of living life to the fullest.

Jesus Our Shepherd

Throughout Scripture, Jesus is referenced as our Shepherd.

“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search and find my sheep. I will be like a shepherd looking for his scattered flock… I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again.” – Ezekiel 34:11-16 

“He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart. He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young.” – Isaiah 40:11

Sheep are wanderers. Beyond the care of their shepherd, they are vulnerable to getting lost and running into danger. I know the feeling of wandering away. When I become obsessed with a goal, become lazy in my relationship with God in a dry season, or whenever I find God is no longer my center. Without God leading me, I fall astray. And every single time I use something of this world to feel worthy, whether it be a class at school or grades, sports, gaining approval from someone, anything, it leaves me unfulfilled and searching for meaning. My capacity as a leader is compromised as I lose my sense of direction and purpose because nothing can fulfill life like the love of Jesus.

A shepherd is a selfless provider. He promises a lifetime of adventure and asks only that we follow Him. If we are to be leaders of this world, we must keep our focus on Jesus our Shepherd to show us the way.

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” – Romans 8:5-6 

I know that when I am preoccupied with what the world promises, I find only emptiness and loneliness. Even if it seems like a good view, I am missing the grand picture of the Way, the Truth and the Life. I find that I was following all the wrong things; that Jesus was waiting to show me something greater all along. He is the perfect example of a leader worthy of following.

In the end, all Jesus asks is that we follow Him and walk where He walks. Along the way, we will encounter difficulty, but there is no reason to be afraid, for He walks ahead of us. In testifying about Jesus to the Ephesians, Paul finds anticipation in the adventure:

And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” – Acts 20:22-24 

Doesn’t the excitement of Paul get you excited, even though he knows there will be suffering? Paul knows his purpose and expresses the Good News with great joy because he knows Jesus well, and Jesus is our perfect leader. Paul realizes what King Solomon realized over a thousand years earlier—that a life without God is meaningless. But we thank the Lord that as leaders, we have direction and peace in Jesus Christ our Shepherd. Paul goes on:

“So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—His church, purchased with his own blood—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.” – Acts 20:28

In this world, we will have hills to climb and worldly expectations to meet. The turns in the trails can catch us off guard and the world might turn dark before we return to safety. But every step of the way, Jesus asks that we follow Him above our own understanding and fleeting desires, for He knows this is the way to living life to the fullest. Jesus’ disciples were quick to follow:

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.”  – Matthew 4:19-20

The disciples’ willingness to drop the life they built to follow Jesus is not to say they never made mistakes. Instead, Jesus used them to bring God’s people to Him. Over and over again, His people sin against Him and make mistakes, but God chooses the ones who are willing to try, the ones who have the capacity to be leaders because they are faithful. Because their hearts are centered towards Jesus, they are able to enjoy the journey and preach God’s Word with joy. 

Like sheep, we tend to wander away and fulfill our own desires before we come back to God on our knees. Why do we discredit God by reaching to things of this world for fulfillment? We are wanderers by nature. We see the possibility of a view and we chase after it, forgetting to listen closely to our Shepherd, our source of life.

Even the greatest leaders are following someone. Let us desire to be leaders that walk in the direction of Jesus by faith, along winding trails that end up at sweeping views of humanity that inspire us to represent God as leaders. In “The Softer Side of Leadership,” Eugene B. Habecker writes that leaders are often called to walk in unfamiliar places. We cannot know the future, but we can know our leader. With all the power and direction of Jesus Christ as Shepherd, let us be leaders that embrace the adventure to bring the words of truth and life to God’s flock.

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