Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4 NKJV
Some appointments can’t be missed, but lately, I’ve missed a few that could.
Actually, I went to appointments I didn’t have. While attending a local writer’s conference, I made a consultation appointment with a marketing agent. Thinking it was eleven in the morning, I hovered around the door as she continued to talk to her previous client. After a check of the schedule, I discovered I was thirty minutes early.
Returning home after a busy weekend at the conference, I prepared to speak at a local school’s chapel service—or so I thought. My scheduled appointment was the twenty-third, and it was the twenty-third. But when I showed up, I heard another speaker introduced. I wasn’t supposed to be there until the twenty-third of the following month.
As a shepherd, David knew about long trips to upper pastures—trips that required walking through walled valleys where thieves and robbers hid and predators lurked. Death was an ever-present possibility—for him and the sheep. He carried only two weapons: a rod and a staff. One defended the sheep while the other guided and rescued wayward sheep.
David mentions an appointment no one will miss unless they happen to be alive when Jesus returns: death. But he wasn’t afraid—and there was a reason.
David’s potential appointment is our certain final appointment. We will die regardless of how we attempt to stop or postpone it. Our bodies will ache and deteriorate no matter how healthy we eat or how much exercise we get. Our only hope is to prolong the final appointment. Keeping it from happening isn’t an option either.
Yet, when we trust Christ as our Savior and choose to follow him, we won’t have to fear walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Our Great Shepherd’s rod and staff will protect and comfort us.
Choose the only Shepherd who can safely guide you through death into heaven's joys.
Prayer: Father, we thank You that we can trust You to guide us through the valley of death and into Your eternal presence.
Tweetable: Are you prepared for the final appointment?
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