Green Pastures, J. R. Miller,
Daily Bible Readings in the Life of Christ, 1890. The Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in
green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides
me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Psalm 23,
1-3. The shepherd takes care that
his sheep are well fed. Christ also feeds his people
and leads them out to find pasture. The Bible is his pasture land,
and the pasturage there is always good. Every chapter is a field
of rich grass. Some of these fields seem at
first to be bare and sterile, but even in the barest, there
is enough pasture to feed a hungry soul. Then there are the pasture
fields of prayer. These lie very close to the border
of heaven. They are always up in the quiet
valleys among the mountains. The Good Shepherd leads us to
them through the gates of prayer. We bow down in lowly humility
and enter with Him into the green pastures and feed our souls until
their hunger is satisfied. The church is another of our
shepherd's pasture fields. We enter the gates of the sanctuary,
and at once we find spiritual food. We find it in the preaching
of the Scriptures, in the ordinances, and in the fellowship of other
believers. In our common life in this world,
if we are faithfully following Christ, We are continually in
fields of rich pasture. Christ never leads us into any
places in which there is nothing to feed us. Even in the hot plains
of trial and sorrow, there is food. We sometimes think there
is only barrenness in our toilsome life, filled with temptations,
cares, and sacrifices, but the Good Shepherd is ever with us,
and there is always pasture. Thus, the whole world is a rich
field when Jesus leads His flock. If any Christians are not well
fed, it is because they will not feed. The trouble must be
that they do not hunger for spiritual food.