2 But shepherds are also sheep...

My second meditation is an important qualification of the first one.

Yes, Jesus is raising up shepherds who will 'feed my lambs'. But we must realise that we too are sheep who need to be fed.

Jeremiah 15:16

"Your words were found, and I ate them.
Your words became a delight to me
and the joy of my heart,
for I bear your name,
Lord God of Armies."

There are two clear lessons I want us to learn from this verse:

Firstly, anyone who wants to teach God's word must be 'eating' God's words regularly and devotedly.
To 'eat' God's word is a kind of paradigm-busting thought.  We tend to think we receive God's word with our eyes, as we examine it carefully, or with our ears as we hear it read out, but here Jeremiah the prophet speaks of taking God's word into his stomach.  This means he tasted it - it made an impression on him experientially- and he digested it; he let the nutrients of God's words seep into every fibre of his being.

So, I must ask, do you have regular times of feeding on God's word?

I had the privilege of being pastored by Johnny Prime in London, and to this day he continues to pray for us regularly and offer advice to us. I grew to appreciate the way that he ministered to people. He used to say 'I read this in my quiet time this morning, and I wanted to share it with you'.

He was and is a shepherd who grazed daily on good pasture, and then in a very natural way, shared that good food with those he visited and spoke to on the phone.

Secondly, we must do that regular Bible reading with delight, not just out of duty.  

As with so much Hebrew poetry, the same truth is described in parellel ways: "Your words became a delight to me"

and - he emphasises the point in a slightly different way- "and the joy of my heart".

It's striking that maybe at first this wasn't his attitude to God's word.  "Your words became a delight". Many Christians, probably most of us, look at the contents of our Bibled and think "I know I ought to read Leviticus and Lamentations...but I'm not excited about it".  We get more excited about reading a novel, scrolling through social media or watching Netflix.  Let's resolve to read our Bibles with an expectation that God will delight us and make our hearts sing for joy.

And then our preaching will be a true overflow of hearts that love the Saviour for his kindness and trustworthiness.  This morning I read John chapter 1 and was excited afresh by the drama of Jesus coming from heaven to be the lamb that takes away the sin of the world and yet the chief priests and Pharisees coming to John to check him out.  It encouraged me that there will always be opposition but Jesus is worth marvelling at despite the world's rejection of him.