"The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the
masters of the assemblies, which are given from one shepherd." I was
reading today a little about goads and from what I could tell it was a
long pole that was used for prodding an animal forward or guiding them.
It was heavy and it was sharp . And the thought that came to me when I
was trying to understand what it was, that whatever a goad would be used
on the thing couldn't stay, like it would have to move. And I was just
thinking about the words of the wise, things that we hear, especially
the words of Jesus that help us to go forward. Like times we can't stay
where we are.
I thought about the colt that Jesus sent two of
his disciples to that was tied at a place where two ways met and the
words of the wise that came from Jesus were, "Loose him and let him go."
and the disciples said, "What should we say to those that keep him ?"
And Jesus said, "Tell them that the Lord has need of him." And I just
wondered if those were things that would prod us forward and help us not
to stay where we are, just being loose or set free. And also of knowing
the Lord had need of us. The thing that could have kept that colt was
that he could have felt too small, but he had never done that before and
he had never been free and the weight of it could have seemed like too
much, but to fulfill scripture he went with those disciples. And I was
just thankful that, that could have been like a goad that just helped
him not to stay. There were many times when Jesus had wise words that
prevented people from staying where they were, but He prodded them on.
The next part of this verse it says, "and as nails fastened by the
masters of the assemblies." sometimes when you buy something like
furniture, it says, some assembly is required, and you might put it
together where it might look right and be somewhat useful but until
nails are in place and things are fastened it is unstable and insecure.
So I just like this part where words of the wise is like nails and they
are the thing that fastens, and brings stability and security.
I
was thinking about the time when Jesus' disciples were on the ship on
the sea and they had followed Jesus there, like He had gone before them,
so they were in the right place and they were with the right one but
the storm came and it just seemed like in their lives they maybe felt
unstable and insecure, like the waves were crashing their world was
seeming insecure, there might have been an insecurity but Jesus' words,
"Peace be still" and there was a great calm. And I just felt like those
words were from the wise. Like those disciples they were assembled, they
were in the right place but they just needed security. And I feel like
that's what the Gospel and often words from the wise, that's what they
do for us, they bring a security and a stability that helps us not to
just look right but be able to be used.
And in this last part
of the verse, it says "Which were given from one shepherd" and that's
just speaking about our shepherd again. John 10 and the things that it
says about Him, and like the words that He spoke. Maybe I'll just read
them. In John 10 verse 11 Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd: the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd and
know my sheep, and am known of mine." And so these words that come from
the wise, they're not just sharp, like the goad that is sharp and
powerful, like the nail that sometimes has to be hit hard to be put into
place, but it comes from one shepherd. And a shepherd that is good, and
a shepherd that's true, and that knows his sheep and is known of him.
So it's been helpful to me to think about words that are from the wise
and that we have been hearing these days. And most of all that they come
from the one source, and that's our shepherd. And the thing about a
shepherd is that there is safety in that. That's the first thing that
comes to my mind when I think about a shepherd. Like a sheep without a
shepherd really has, like that within it's self has no defense. So we
are thankful for a wise shepherd and that we are known of Him. I've
always loved that about this chapter, that we are known of Him, and He
is known of us, and I'm thankful for this.
Source: T. Springfield
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