John spoke this morning at Cherry Tree Court from Psalm 23, telling a story about 3 shepherds and a minister.
A minister from Scotland moved to England, but returned to his home church once a year to speak at their anniversary celebrations. Each trip back to Scotland proved quite eventful! The first year, he ran out of petrol on the journey, so the following year, he remembered to take petrol in cans for the journey. Unfortunately, that year, his radiator over-heated and it turned out he had forgotten to take any water with him, so he could not cool the engine!
He prayed for help, and in the distance heard bells ringing. A shepherd called Peter approached with his flock of sheep and pointed the minister to a nearby brook. While they waited for the engine to cool, the minister talked to Peter about a shepherd in the Bible called David and read Psalm 23 to him, telling him that the fourth word was the most important in the psalm. He told him that it was important he knew God personally if he was to experience the guidance and help promised in the psalm, and that Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
The next year, the minister thought he had made the journey safely when the sunny day suddenly turned misty and it was difficult to see where he was going. He came across a house and asked for help; when he was invited in, he was surprised to see a picture of Peter on the walls. The lady told him that Peter was her son and the minister explained how he had met him the previous year. Unfortunately, he had died that winter in a severe blizzard, but the mother told how when his body had been found, his fourth finger was gripped by his right hand, reminding them that the Lord was his shepherd.
We tend to wear wedding rings on the fourth finger of our left hand in this country to indicate that we belong to someone and they belong to us. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, belongs to us and we belong to Him. We need to be sure He is our shepherd.