“Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will lead you with knowledge and understanding.” (Jeremiah 3:15)

A Bible study that I led yesterday included a discussion about the responsibility (and privilege) of being a teacher (see James 3:1), and that is, without doubt, a task that I approach with the utmost seriousness. Along with those teaching duties, however, I am humbled by the responsibility (and privilege) that I’m given every day to be a shepherd – a pastor – to the people of my church family. I rarely feel that I’m able to live up to my best aspirations for that role. But it is a gift to share the journey of faith with people who are so generous, so devoted, and so open to being led by God’s Spirit.

So today, I think that my “in the office” time is best used simply to spend some extra moments in prayer for that family, rather than writing a reflection. With any luck, I’ll return to something more “teaching-oriented” tomorrow.

May God give us grace to love Him, to love each other, and to expand the embrace of His kingdom – within us, among us and beyond us.