LUSH PASTURES
PART 1

“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name . . .
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
(Psalm 103:1, 5).

There is hardly a person who doesn’t know Psalm 23, the shepherd’s psalm and we invariably read it to receive comfort from our Good Shepherd. However, we can also learn from this beloved psalm how to mother our own little or big flock. Mothering is very similar to shepherding and encompasses all the aspects of shepherding and tending to a flock.

We can all recite the first verse: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Or we could say: “I lack nothing.”

Mothering is not a little task. It is HUGE. We minister to our children—body soul, and spirit. Can they say they lack nothing, not only being clothed and fed bodily, but spiritually and mentally? We constantly tend to the physical needs of our children but what about the inner man. That’s even more important than the outer man.

Many mothers feel they can manage motherhood, providing food and clothing for their children. But oh, there is far more to mothering than this. It is feeding the soul, the mind, and the spirit. This takes far more time than the physical needs. Many children are adequately provided with food and clothing (most probably far more than they need), yet they starve spiritually.

Verse 2 in the New Living Translation says: “He takes me to lush pastures.” Where are you taking your children today dearest mother? The true shepherd leads his sheep to “green and lush pastures.” Do you notice that the Shepherd leads them? He doesn’t let them go where they want to go for the sheep don’t know what is best for them.

Are you leading your children? Are you taking them to what is best for them? So many children and teens today are left to the devices of the Internet and Social Media. Those are the “pastures” they feed on. Their iPhones are hardly out of their hands. The sad thing is that they get so full on all this junk that they have no appetite for what is good.

It’s the same with food. When we feed up on junk foods, sweet foods, and fast foods, we fill up on this “dead food” and have no desire for the good, wholesome foods of vegetables, fruit, and home-cooked meals.

The word for food in the New Testament is trophe (pronounced trophay) and means “nourishment, both literally and figuratively.” Therefore, if the food we give our children doesn’t nourish them, it’s not real food. It’s the same for their souls. Is what they are feeding on nourishing their souls and spirits?

We must guard that our children don’t get filled up on all the junk that is available today. When they get filled up on the junk of this world, then they have no appetite for the spiritual. They need to be starved from the junk, so they’ll get thirsty for good food for their bodies, souls, and spirits. We must reawaken ourselves and our children to hunger and thirst for the good and the spiritual. Jesus said in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:6: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

God promises in Isaiah 44:3: “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.” Do you notice that this promise is to the thirsty! If they are not thirsty and instead are filled with all the junk of this world, they will not be ready to receive what God wants to give them which is the good food. It is our responsibility to keep them thirsty for the good food of wholesome truth and lead them to the lush food God wants to pour into them.

The Shepherd chapter in Ezekiel 34: 14, 15 says: “I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.”

Are you leading your children to lush pastures?

Blessings from Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, I want to be hungry and thirsty for You. And I long for my children to also be hungry and thirsty for You. Please give me wisdom to save them from the foolish things of this world so they will be hungry and ready to receive the fullness of truth You have for them. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am cracking down on all the junk in my home that deadens the spiritual life of my children. I am awakening them to the rich foods that will feed their souls and spirits.