…Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me… Psalm 23:4
We don’t usually include graphics in the daily devotionals but I wanted us to be reminded of the devices and their general appearance.
Also, this next part is from the website: https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/shepherds-rod-and-staff-different/
- The writer’s credit:
How are the Shepherd’s Rod and Staff Different?
by Shari Abbott, Reasons for Hope* Jesus - July 2, 2019
In Biblical times, a shepherd consistently used both a rod and a staff to tend the flock. Both were used to protect the sheep, each in a very specific way.
The rod was used to fight off wild animals and to count the sheep and direct them. The rod prodded them during the day in the fields and at night into the sheepfold. A willing sheep would respond to the prodding, but a stubborn, strong-willed sheep would not.
While sheep might not be as dumb as often suggested, they do have characteristics that give some merit to that claim. They’ll indiscriminately eat just about anything, regardless whether it is something that could harm or kill them. They endlessly wander, seemingly without direction. And many sheep stubbornly resist the shepherd’s prodding. That’s why the staff, with a crook at the end, is needed. The shepherd uses the staff to more strongly exert his authority and to gently, but firmly, pull the sheep back to the fold and keep the sheep moving in the right direction. He can also use the crook of the staff to pull the sheep from harm.
That’s very well said!
Look, however, at what the writer of Proverbs says about a rod: Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. How is it possible that being corrected – in behavior – would be appealing? Well, we humans thrive and succeed when clear boundaries are set. That’s right, thrive and succeed – when the rules are clearly defined. It seems weird to say that acting outside the rules is successful but think of all the things you did that your parents never found out about – go ahead, right now, just take a few moments and recall just two things. Not criminal behavior necessarily, but something that you remember was for sure on the list of no, no’s – things that would have resulted in swift and sudden parental judgement and punishment. Wasn’t that hard to remember, was it? Want to know why, to this very day, they still don’t know about it? Because you successfully evaded the clear and understood rules! I’m not advocating that you call them up and confess anything. I’m just saying that that little smile that came across your face when you remembered something that you probably had forgotten about is from a little bit of mischievous comfort in realizing that you have still, gotten away with it.
Once, my mother told me, early on in my high school years, that if there was ever anything I kind of didn’t want to do that my friends were doing, to just tell them that I couldn’t because she said so. Just let her take the blame for an unwritten rule – maybe one that wasn’t really in place. I know that sounds like a lie but the point is this, if there was a rule in place, I could “blame” it also. I was able to take comfort in not hurting their feelings because of the “rules” – they helped me out. Having an unwillingness to say no, I took comfort in having a way out.
Listen folks, a good parent - a good shepherd – disciplines the sheep; he guides them and directs them. Maybe he doesn’t always like poking them with a stick or yanking them up with a hook but he knows it’s sometimes necessary. You, who became parents, know that it is necessary for your kid’s survival! They might never understand it for all it can be the way I got to. And, even though I never got to become a parent, I do know how much easier the Leawood students’ lives would be if they would just follow the rules. And, I know the fun they miss out on when I have to discipline them because they don’t. If they ever get to the point where they see that my “rod and staff” are being used for protection and guidance not merely for punishment and discipline, maybe they’ll begin to trust that the poking and prodding is a means to an end and begin to take, at least on a small level, comfort in the fact that I’m not doing it for no reason - that maybe there is something of value to be learned. Maybe one day…
May we too need to come to understand that The Shepherds “rod and staff” are being used for protection and guidance not merely for punishment and discipline. May we too need to begin to trust that the poking and prodding is a means to an end and begin to take comfort in the fact that He isn’t doing it for no reason - that maybe there is something of value to be learned...
- Lord, help us learn to take comfort in Your poking and prodding and pulling us back in line and out of danger. Help us to see it that way.
- Lord, help us to remember that You are with us and that Your rod and staff can comfort us if we’re willing to let them.