Day 58: One Father, Many Guides (SoS 1:8d)

“If you do not know, O fairest among women, Follow in the footsteps of the flock, And feed your little goats beside the shepherds’ tents.”

Song of Songs 1:8

The third direction given by the Beloved was where the Bride should feed her little goats. Surprisingly, he doesn't say by his tent, he said by the shepherds' tents. After a negative experience of not just being overworked but being on the receiving end of her brothers' anger, the Bride is still directed to stay close to and work with others.

To stay beside the shepherds' tent is to submit to spiritual authority and learn from others as she served. To do this is to overcome the temptation of being independent which is usually either a sign of rebellion or resistance to spiritual authority or being unteachable for one reason or another.

Shepherds are spiritual overseers looking after the Lord's sheep as assigned to them by Jesus the Chief Shepherd. As we have in physical societies, a child is born into one family where he is primarily taught many essential skills for life but most importantly, the culture and values of the tribe. As he grows though, he learns from others; members of the extended family, school, neighbors, etc.

Now relating this to our spiritual families:

When a man becomes a part of Jesus' flock, He sets them in a family of believers of His choosing (see Psalm 68:6 ). Being in this family is our connection to the family tree of Abraham. It's where the concept of spiritual fathers originated. However, on this Christian journey, we have many guides.

So in essence, we follow the footsteps of a flock as led by Jesus the Chief Shepherd, but learn from many of His shepherds. Its what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:15-16:

"For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Therefore I urge you, imitate me."

In the Christian faith, whether we are church members or overseers of the Lord's flock, we should have spiritual fathers. Someone who speaks God's words over us and those words shape our spiritual experiences. Someone we primarily learn and receive counsel from. They may not be the ones who led us to Christ. It is at God's discretion to choose our spiritual families and fathers just like He chose our physical families and fathers. But these men or women nurture us as spiritual babes till we come to maturity and still guide us in the way even when we grow. The reason God has set it this way is that according to the concept of scripture, we become what/who we look at.

We have many instructors, but one family of believers with one father. Jesus, coming to establish a new order identified both physically and spiritually with the lineage of David which connects Him to the Father of faith Abraham even though God is His Father. As God is our father, there is a family of believers that must connect us spiritually to the family tree of Abraham, and then to God.

Before Jesus began His ministry, even though he was the Word made flesh, the Son of God, He had guides, and learned from many teachers. In Luke chapter 2, after a feast in Jerusalem when He was to return home with His family, He stayed back without His parents' knowledge. Verse 46 tells us where He was found:

"Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions."

No matter what you've learned from your physical father when you need to get fit, you get a fitness coach. When you need financial advice, you go to a financial expert. For every natural skill or direction you need to learn, you get someone who has mastered it or knows the way to guide you. Jesus needed to learn the law, so He got the teachers of the law to answer His questions. We must submit to receiving counsel from books, sermons, and other resources by credible believers in the Christian faith.

The challenge though is that we must pass everything we learn from family, father, and guides through the test of God's word. Whatever spiritual principle we accept from them must not negate God's word. So we must have a culture of searching the scriptures so the Holy Spirit by the word can bear witness to the things we learn.  It was an act of the Berean church Paul commended in Acts 17:11.

There are secrets to a deeper walk with God, a life of victory and service (fulfilling our God-given mandate) that will take us a lifetime to learn on our own but has been revealed to the shepherds of the flock. As you trust the Lord to be set in a local church, trust Him to give you a spiritual father and point you to guides. A three-fold cord is not easily broken. God has designed us to not be independent but interdependent.

PRAY WITH ME:

Dear Lord, open my eyes to my instructors and guides. I receive grace again to submit to the order of Your flock and the family, father, and guides you place over me. I lay down every past negative experience. Help my heart be whole towards them. Amen.

REFLECT AND ACT:

• List who your spiritual family, father, and guides are if they've been revealed by the Lord in the past.
• If you are not sure of all or any of these three, ask the Lord to show you and lead you to them.
• In what aspects of life do you need a guide? Begin to make a search today for guides as you seek answers from God's word.
• How can you serve, follow more faithfully and learn by your connection to these three?