Safe pastures of love

Photographed by Garrett Randolph

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.”

-Psalm 37: 3

Our daughter is beginning to crawl which means we as parents are constantly examining her environment and preparing things in a way to keep her as safe as possible. When setting her on the ground for play time, I try to make her area spacious while also creating boundaries for her safety. Without the worry of danger, we are able to have the most fun together. It’s not that she still won’t hit the rattle on her head, fall over on the ground, or get upset when something is outside her reach… there is a difference between learning experiences that help her grow and things that will harm her as a child. I have also noticed from working in a hospital that safety precautions are often something people do not notice until they are not there. In a culture that resents accountability, the truth is, that appropriate boundaries promote health, playfulness, growth, and freedom— not just physically, but spiritually, emotionally, and relationally as well.

Jesus is our Shepherd. In fact in John 10, He calls Himself both “the Gate” and the “Good Shepherd” who lays His life down for His sheep. Jesus is the entrance into the abundant life that the Father had planned for us from the beginning! Jesus has finished all the work to allow us into the Land of the Living and set up the boundaries of His ways to keep us in safe pasture as His children. I have to remind myself sometimes that to live by His Word and according to His Love, is to live within the boundaries of HOME. In Him, we are guided in life-giving freedom that allows us to explore, grow, and enjoy from safety and rest.

Growing up, I remember learning to navigate what “being a Christian” looked like around my friends that did not know Jesus. I compared by life with what they were permitted to do, feeling confined by the rules that I did not fully understand. All I knew, was that when I acted outside of God’s ways, something in me did not feel right. Now I can see that it was the Holy Spirit reminding me of where my true home was as a child of God— in His safe pasture. At the time, I did not fully understand the benefits of God’s boundaries. But as a grew, the Holy Spirit showed me the heart of the Father— that His intentions are not to limit me. In fact, He desires the very opposite. He wants me to live free from harm and death!

God’s boundaries are not to oppress, but to set free!

In the midst of the free will God has given us, He has set up a home in His Spirit—one of safe pastures where we can feast on His goodness and truth, grow into who we were made to be as Sons and Daughters of the King, and become empowered by His Spirit to share with others about liberty in Jesus!

A baby cannot cognitively understand all the considerations and decisions his/her parents make to keep him/her thriving and safe. They don’t need to. They feel it. Babies grow in loving relationships that meet the needs they cannot meet by themselves. Similarly, we may not understand all the boundaries or even be aware of all the way the Shepherd steps in to give us what we need on a daily basis, but because we know Him, we are comforted by who He is and by our belonging to Him.

Sitting here writing, I reminded that God is Love (1 John 4). Jesus also tells us He is the Gate, the fence which is the Word (John 1:1), and the pasture we feast upon (Psalm 23). Therefore, we enter into life by His Love, remain in freedom by His Love, and continually are feasting upon His Love. This is life with the Shepherd.

“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.’ "

-John 10:7-15