Photo of the Week: Turkey
A shepherd with his flock on Mount Ararat.
The Good Shepherd’s visit
By Gary Fallesen, founding president, Climbing For Christ
A shepherd with his flock on Mount Ararat. (Photo by Gary Fallesen)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” – John 10:11 (NLT)
We see and visit many shepherds in our travels into and around the mountains. The story of our Good Shepherd is very relatable to those who tend herds in some of the most remote places.
“The LORD is my shepherd,” David wrote in Psalm 23. “He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.”
HonorShame posted an Advent devotional called “Honor, Shame, and the First Christmas.” It looked at the birth of Jesus through the eyes of fictitious characters. One is a shepherd named David who encounters the shepherds found in the Gospel story of Luke 2:8-20.
“You will not believe what happened to us last night!” another shepherd tells the fictitious David, who continues the story: “Then he starts talking about angels lighting up the night sky like it’s midday, singing about giving God glory.
“ ‘It was crazy terrifying at first,’ added a second guy. ‘But they told us to go to Bethlehem and we’d see the newborn Messiah in the manger of a stable. So, we dropped everything and rushed off.’
“ ‘Wait, you just left the sheep and everything?’ my brother interjected. ‘And you went where? To a manger?’ The shepherds nodded.
“Until that point, the oldest of the three shepherds had not said a word. Then he spoke. ‘It was just as the angels said.’ The old shepherd had a distant look. I knew he was replaying the whole thing in his mind. Was that a tear I saw in his eye?
“ ‘He’s here,’ whispered the old shepherd, almost to himself. ‘The Messiah. I saw him!’
“So, here I am. Under the same night sky that evidently shone last night with angelic light. If this is true, I want to see the Messiah, too!”
I am stirred by this picture of shepherds speaking about Jesus – their desire to see the Messiah, to drop everything and go where He is and want us to be. This should be our heart as we celebrate the coming of Christ, and as we prepare for His second coming. 
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