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Un buen pastor... A good pastor...

2/10/2018

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Como pastor apacentará su rebaño // He will tend his flock like a shepherd (Isa.40:11)

​Quiero ser pastor como David antes de que fuera escogido como rey.

Era joven y guapo: bueno… no empecé muy bien que digamos. No soy ni joven ni guapo.

Aunque joven, era responsable: nadie llega a nada sin tomar decisiones claras y aferrarse a ellas hasta que se vean cumplidas. En asuntos espirituales nadie perdura sin una convicción dada por el Espíritu Santo y una confianza implícita en la Palabra de Dios... tomada literalmente... tal como viene... todos los días.

Responsable se convierte en fiel: quiere decir que siempre estás. No puedes pastorear un rebaño de ovejas de lunes a sábado y dejarlas solas el domingo mientras visites tu familia (o juegues futbol). El lunes no las encontrarás. Se habrán dispersado. O peor… que solo encuentres huesitos y manojos de lana tirados por ahí.

Fiel significa hasta la muerte: no sé... Greg con unas ovejas en una montaña solitaria... nadie observando... lo más probable es que invite al león a disfrutar su comida, "pero, por favor, no me comas a mí, ¿ok?"

¿Qué me ves? Solo son ovejas, ¿no?. En fin, ¿qué importa un manojo de ovejas? Ahh, ya entendí. Las ovejas no son mías, ¿verdad? A mi no me corresponde tomar esa decisión. David arriesgó su vida por tal de defender las ovejas que eran de su padre. Yo debo hacer lo mismo.

Fiel se comienza a parecer a paciente: en algún momento, David descubrió una verdad profunda. Las ovejas, con el paso del tiempo, siguen siendo ovejas. Por esa razón, a pesar de contar con el mejor pastor en la región, sus ovejas seguían portándose como ovejas. Hemos de ser extremadamente pacientes los unos con los otros, pues nuestro Pastor es extremadamente paciente con nosotros.

Verdadera paciencia engendra el contentamiento: ¡eso no es poca cosa! Nos protege de meternos en muchas broncas; preserva nuestras energías para el cuidado debido de nuestro rebaño; promueve una comunión profunda con Aquel cuyas ovejas atendemos. "La piedad con contentamiento es ¿qué? gran ganancia. (1Tim 6:6)

David contaba con una mentalidad contemplativa. No surgió luego de que Saúl lo empezó a perseguir o después de estar ocupado como rey. Formaba parte de él cuando pastoreaba sus ovejas. 

Las ovejas en el rebaño de Jesús tienen una diversidad de pericia y dones. Un pastor no puede igualar todas sus respectivas habilidades. Sin embargo, ¿quién debe estar hombros y cabeza por encima de los demás cuando se trata de una profundidad contemplativa, una cercanía experimental con Dios? ¿Como conduciremos a pastos más verdes si nosotros mismos no conocemos el camino?

Lo mejor de todo: ¿De quién es tipo David? ¿Qué tipo de pastor era?

“Yo soy el buen pastor; el buen pastor su vida da por las ovejas.” Juan 10:11

I want to be a pastor like David before he was chosen to be king.

He was young and handsome: ok... so I'm not getting off to a very good start. I am neither young nor handsome. 

Though young, he was responsible: no one gets anywhere without decisions being made and an overriding commitment to seeing through those decisions. In spiritual matters, no one stays the course without a Holy-Spirit-given conviction and implicit trust in God's Word, taken literally, at face value... every day.

Responsible turns into faithful: that means always there: You can't pastor a flock of sheep Monday to Saturday and leave them alone while you visit family on Sunday (or go play soccer). Monday morning you will not find them. They will have scattered. Or, worse… you might just find bones and tufts of wool scattered about.

Faithful means to the death: I don't know... Greg with sheep on a lonely mountain… no one watching... more than likely, I would end up inviting the lion to enjoy his meal, "but please don't eat me, ok?" 

What are you looking at? In the end, they are just sheep, right? What is a handful of sheep in the grand scheme of things? Ahh, now I get it. They are not my sheep, right? I do not get to make that decision. David risked his life to defend the sheep that belonged to his father. And I should do the same.

Faithful starts to look like patient: at some point, David discovered a profound truth: sheep, with the passage of time, remain sheep. For that reason, in spite of having the best pastor in the country, his sheep continued to behave like sheep. We should be extremely patient with one another, because our Shepherd is extremely patient with us.

True patience engenders contentment: and that is not a small thing! It keeps us from getting into a lot of trouble; it conserves our energy to take proper care of our flock; it promotes a deepening communion with the One whose sheep we are tending. Godliness with contentment is what? great gain. (1Tim 6:6)

David had a contemplative mentality: this didn't spring up when Saul started chasing him or after he became busy being king. This was part of him when he was a young sheepherder. 

Sheep in Jesus' flock have a diversity of expertise and gifts. A pastor cannot equal them in each of their respective abilities. But guess who should be head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to a contemplative profundity, an experiential closeness to God? How shall we lead to greener pastures if we don't know the way ourselves?

Best of all: David was a type of whom? What kind of shepherd was he?

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  John 10:11​

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    Greg Smith

    Greg grew up in Menomonee Falls, WI. His ministry began in 1976: 5 years in Central America, 36 in Mexico. His passion is church planting and discipleship.
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    Greg enjoys being married to Carol Ahola-Smith. Both have been missionaries (Japan and Mexico); both watched their first spouses precede them in death.
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