For you we’re straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
– 1 Peter 2:25
What a picture, what a description, of the Christian life before Christ, and upon coming to Christ.
1 Peter 2:25 encourages us to find comfort in our Shepherd’s care.
“You were straying like sheep.” That’s the way your life, my life, can be described before we came to Christ. We were straying like sheep. We were lost. And we were wandering in our own ways, away from our Shepherd who loves us and cares for us. We were doing our own things, in ways that were dangerous to us. And if we had continued straying like sheep, it would have killed us. Wolves, other disasters, that’s what happens to sheep who wander from the shepherd and from the fold. They don’t live. And we were destined for eternal death.
But 1 Peter 2:25, “But now you have returned to the shepherd and Overseer of your soul.” So this is where you are now. You’re with the Shepherd. You are not wandering off by yourself. You’re with the Shepherd who loves you. You’re with the Overseer of your soul. What a picture, these two titles of God, exemplified in Jesus. He’s our Shepherd, one who cares for us, feeds us, leads us, guides us, nourishes us, protects us, just all the things that a shepherd does, God says, “I do that for you on a daily basis. I’m the Shepherd of your soul. And the Overseer. I have oversight of your soul. I’m looking at all of who you are, and I care about all of who you are. And I’m committed to providing for all of who you are.”
1 Peter 2:25 teaches us about the care Christ provides for us.
Hear God saying to you today, “I’m your Shepherd. I’m your Overseer. Trust in me.” So don’t wander today in any way. Stay close to the Shepherd. Stay close to the Overseer of your soul. And lead others, draw others to him. Bring others to know the Shepherd. There are other sheep wandering and they need the Shepherd. They need to return to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls. So let’s lead others to the Shepherd today. And let’s pray for people who’ve never even heard the good news about Jesus, the Shepherd who gave his life for their souls.
Oh God, we praise you as the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. We love your Word, oh God, we love how it leads us to pray. How it leads us to see our lives as we once were, straying like sheep. God, we praise you as our Shepherd who came searching for us, who found us, who saved us from ourselves, our sin, from death. Thank you, oh God, for seeking after us as our Shepherd, and for bringing us back to yourself. For the story we have of how, by your grace, we have returned to you, the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
This verse points to the reality of Christ’s healing for our souls.
And God, we praise you for shepherding us today. We say yes, lead us, guide us, direct our paths in every way. Protect us, nurture, feed us through your Word by your Holy Spirit. We look to you all day long as our good Shepherd and our Overseer. God, we pray for your help, your provision in every facet of our lives. Oversee our souls completely and help us to lead others to you. Grant us boldness, we pray today, by the power of your Holy Spirit to share Jesus the Good Shepherd with people around us.
Prayer for the Jhinwar People
And God, we pray for people in the world who have never heard of Jesus the Good Shepherd. We pray for the Jhinwar people of India, this Punjab people group of about a half million people, and a scant few believers among them. God, we pray for our brothers and sisters among the Jhinwar, that few in number, God, please strengthen them, help them as they trust in you, as they follow you as the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls today. And God, we pray that you would bring multitudes more Jhinwar to yourself.
God, we think of Jesus’ words in John 10, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold, I must bring them in.” Bring them in, oh God, we pray. Bring in the Jhinwar for your glory as their Shepherd and Overseer, we pray. All these things, we pray in Jesus’ name, according to 1 Peter 2:25 to you, the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
