Danger unrecognized. Desire unrestrained. Questions without answer. Hunger without means. Life without the shepherd is not life, it is slow death.

The heart of man is eternally deceitful and evil. That is our reality. Left to himself, man always corrupts. History has proven this over and over. And yet, there is another aspect of man’s heart that is just as constant and unavoidable. Hunger.

People are hungry. We all have a strong built in need for truth, for answers, for meaning. We seek answers just because we must seek. It is how we are built. Man is curious and hungry in his soul from birth till death.

And hunger can only be consistently satisfied by the shepherd. Only the shepherd knows where the green grass is. Sheep wander, seeing only the immediate surroundings. They have no map, no master plan. They wander aimlessly from patch to patch hoping to keep finding more patches. The shepherd, he surveys the land. He sees the next pasture over, and the next. He evaluates the feed sources, the water, the danger. The Shepherd guides the sheep towards the destinations that best serve them.

The shepherd brings the sheep life, by restricting their aimless wandering, preventing the chasing of small bright tufts of grass to bring the herd to the larger sustainable pastures. The Shepherd feeds the hungry by guiding to real food.

So without a shepherd, the sheep will often fail at life. They wander here and there, always hungry but never truly satisfied. They spring from book to book to book, seminar to seminar. School to school. Their future uncertain. Fear clouds every day due to their shortsighted nature. They don’t live, they only survive.

Jesus is the shepherd. He is your shepherd. He will fill that hunger, not just today but forever. He is the light, the answer, the bread of life. He is what you seek.

Here, in this scripture, Jesus saw the hungry crowds. He could see the desperation for truth, for answers. The people knew that their lives weren’t full and they were desperate for what Jesus brought.

The take away here? There are so many. But one in particular is about the church today. So many programs to attract people… Advertising, entertainment, promises, flashy gimmicks, books, seminars, gatherings. But the sheep are hungry for truth. A church that brings truth, real truth, powerful truth, will see what Jesus saw… Flocks of people straining to find that truth. We don’t need programs and gimmicks and entertainment. We need truth. People seek truth. It is who we are!

Share truth. When you are given truth that touches you… Share it with others. It is that truth that endures, that changes lives. “Jesus taught them many things”. And He teaches us today. Our job, is simply to share what we have received.

Speak truth.