I finished reading my second book, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.
If you are looking for a Christmas present for a dear Christian friend, I would recommend this book. The bonus is, it costs only $6.50. At least in the bookshop in my church.
One who is familiar is sheep-rearing would understand that in Psalm 23, David employs a first-person point-of-view aligned to that of a sheep and talks about the geographical journey a shepherd and his herd makes in a sheep year. The sheep stays on the home range till v4, where the journey up to the grassy plateaux of the mountains after snowmelt takes the reader to the mesa, the tableland, where God prepares a feast for His sheep in front of the aggressors, the wolves, coyotes and cougars. As the snowline drops in autumn, the herds return to the home range in v6. And this cycle is repeated every year, and each cycle represents a sheep year.
In the light of this, Keller expounds on the psalm by breaking the 6-verse poem into a 12-part analysis. He makes clean-cut implications on the Christian through his experiences as a shepherd who lived in East Africa.
One of my favourite parts of the book goes:
'The moment I deliberately do something definite
either for God or others that costs me something,
I am expressing love.'
either for God or others that costs me something,
I am expressing love.'
page 68
A shepherd loves His herd, just as how Jesus is willing to lay his life down for us. The shepherd's love is exemplified in the pain he takes to cultivate lands into meadows (grassy plains are not usually present, as opposed to popular belief!), the numerous trips to the mesas to survey and clear the land of aggressors and toxic plants, his constant alertness to fend off aggressors, keep the sheep together and ensure their health from flies' eggs that can attack the brain upon hatching, making sure no lone sheep is cast. (A cast sheep, in old English terminology, is to have its four legs up in the sky. It can die from paralysis or attack.) And mind you, there are thousands of sheep in one herd! The shepherd has to do these alone, personally, at most, with the help of a dog and a few companions. All these chores are done at the cost of the shepherd's own comfort, energy and recreation.
Likewise I know that if I want to love, I have to be willing to expend the price of love. I have been reading Matthew 5:38-48 for my QT, and I learnt that in order to be willing to expend this price, I need to let go of the self. As the fundamental assumption of Economics states, and still holds, Man follows the principle of Each To His Own. Every man follows but his own interests, good or bad. When I give up my self, I will not act according to my self interests and will not harp on losing out because I am the one sacrificing. I am the one who is paying the price of love.
Of course, paying the price of love to someone who reciprocrates by paying his own price for you means an offset, in mathematical sense. It is so easy to love one who is loveable, meaning one who is favourable in terms of appearance, achievement and background. But the true meaning of love holds that the one who loves is able to transcend above these superficial and worldly credits and give the same amount of love in opinion, attitude and action towards those viewed ugly, average, useless, harmful by the society. These include the chicopeks that seem to always looking at pretty girls, the classmates who talk to you with sarcasm and mockery, the colleagues who use politics to land you in trouble, the family members that love to regard your life with contempt. When you love these people, which are not loveable by human nature, you are paying a price. This price can be the price of a cold, angry or hostile response that hurts your feelings and dignity. But when you overlook the ME which life often revolves about, you overlook your own feelings and your own dignity. When this obstacle of self is overcome, it is easy to love. Look at Jesus' life on earth and you will get the idea.
In practical ways, the giving of sacrificial, unconditional love exemplified by God can be followed. The very basic action being that of prayer. 'Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.' Luke 6:27 My brother is not loveable by human nature and is often treated not goodly (ie: without love) by his peers in school and in church. What I now do is to abandon all the instinctive emotions of anger and despise arising from unfair treatment for prayer. I pray that God will give the malleable, half-mature minds of his peers time to mature spiritually, and be merciful unto them in the meantime. 'for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.' Matthew 5:45 We, being the children of God, should take up His character of mercy.
In my church, people know the Bible well. I grew up in an environment that places importance on knowing what God wants us to do through His precious Word. Now, it is up to me, with the help of God's staff, the Holy Spirit, to live out what He wants me to do. A brother-in-Christ coined up a term for this, called living the Word. And yes, this is what I will seek to do more, one of which, is to love.
A shepherd loves His herd, just as how Jesus is willing to lay his life down for us. The shepherd's love is exemplified in the pain he takes to cultivate lands into meadows (grassy plains are not usually present, as opposed to popular belief!), the numerous trips to the mesas to survey and clear the land of aggressors and toxic plants, his constant alertness to fend off aggressors, keep the sheep together and ensure their health from flies' eggs that can attack the brain upon hatching, making sure no lone sheep is cast. (A cast sheep, in old English terminology, is to have its four legs up in the sky. It can die from paralysis or attack.) And mind you, there are thousands of sheep in one herd! The shepherd has to do these alone, personally, at most, with the help of a dog and a few companions. All these chores are done at the cost of the shepherd's own comfort, energy and recreation.
Likewise I know that if I want to love, I have to be willing to expend the price of love. I have been reading Matthew 5:38-48 for my QT, and I learnt that in order to be willing to expend this price, I need to let go of the self. As the fundamental assumption of Economics states, and still holds, Man follows the principle of Each To His Own. Every man follows but his own interests, good or bad. When I give up my self, I will not act according to my self interests and will not harp on losing out because I am the one sacrificing. I am the one who is paying the price of love.
Of course, paying the price of love to someone who reciprocrates by paying his own price for you means an offset, in mathematical sense. It is so easy to love one who is loveable, meaning one who is favourable in terms of appearance, achievement and background. But the true meaning of love holds that the one who loves is able to transcend above these superficial and worldly credits and give the same amount of love in opinion, attitude and action towards those viewed ugly, average, useless, harmful by the society. These include the chicopeks that seem to always looking at pretty girls, the classmates who talk to you with sarcasm and mockery, the colleagues who use politics to land you in trouble, the family members that love to regard your life with contempt. When you love these people, which are not loveable by human nature, you are paying a price. This price can be the price of a cold, angry or hostile response that hurts your feelings and dignity. But when you overlook the ME which life often revolves about, you overlook your own feelings and your own dignity. When this obstacle of self is overcome, it is easy to love. Look at Jesus' life on earth and you will get the idea.
In practical ways, the giving of sacrificial, unconditional love exemplified by God can be followed. The very basic action being that of prayer. 'Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.' Luke 6:27 My brother is not loveable by human nature and is often treated not goodly (ie: without love) by his peers in school and in church. What I now do is to abandon all the instinctive emotions of anger and despise arising from unfair treatment for prayer. I pray that God will give the malleable, half-mature minds of his peers time to mature spiritually, and be merciful unto them in the meantime. 'for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.' Matthew 5:45 We, being the children of God, should take up His character of mercy.
In my church, people know the Bible well. I grew up in an environment that places importance on knowing what God wants us to do through His precious Word. Now, it is up to me, with the help of God's staff, the Holy Spirit, to live out what He wants me to do. A brother-in-Christ coined up a term for this, called living the Word. And yes, this is what I will seek to do more, one of which, is to love.
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