For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
1 Peter 2:25, ESV
In conversations that I have had with people who raise sheep, sheep are not the brightest animals. They wander off and will get themselves into trouble if not kept in a secure place or if a close watch is not kept on them in an open field. We are very similar when it comes to the spiritual things.
We can become easily distracted and lose sight of what God is calling us to do. Yet, we do have a Good Shepherd. He knew the nature of our souls and what would be required for our redemption. He didn’t hold back but gave fully of Himself so we could be carried back by Him and cleansed from our sins. As Peter says just prior to this verse, “By His wounds, you have been healed (2:24).” It isn’t our doing that brings us back to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, but it is His doing. He is the One who snatches us out of those dangerous places and returns us within the security of His fold. None of our salvation is through our actions, but solely through the actions of our Lord and Savior, who has claimed us as His own. It is this claim that cannot be removed, yet we still wander, and He still listens for our cries.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.