SCRIPTURE READING: PSALM 23: 1-6
FOCUS: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” (Psalm 23: 2)
MEMORY VERSE: “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:” (Psalm 8: 6)
In our Focal Scripture, the psalmist speaks about how the Lord causes him to lie down in green pastures. Green pastures are the food that sheep eat. So, by the psalmist’s analogy, he was made to lie down on the food he eats. He was given a position higher than the pasture. He was made to take a higher position relative to his pasture. That means, the sheep had dominion over the pasture, but the pasture had no dominion over the sheep.
Friend, it was never God’s intention to bring you under your pasture or even on the same level as your pasture. God’s intention is to keep you well above your pasture. God’s intention is to keep you ahead of your pasture. God’s intention is to make you prevail and preside over your pasture. God’s intention is that you will not bow to your pasture but your pasture will bow to you. God’s plan is to make you higher than the pasture.
It is a violation of the dominion mandate if you ever find yourself bowing down to the same pastures that God created for you. It is an error to bow down to the opportunities that God has sent to you. It is an error to bow down to the fruitful fields that heaven has made available to you. It is an error to make your pasture more important than the Shepherd who brought you to it. It is an error to make your pasture to rule over you.
Commit to staying above your pasture. Commit to the rightful dominion mandate which heaven has given you over the entire creation. Commit to not embarrassing the grace of God on your life by thinking that God is too stranded to bring you to green pastures. Never imagine that your green pastures are too important to make you leave the Shepherd. Never let your green pastures take a higher position in your life than the Shepherd.
Remember, it is the Lord that makes the pastures to be green. Without God, there would be no pasture. As surely as the Lord lives, you are above your pasture, and be intentional to never bow to your pasture.
FURTHER READING: PSALM 8
DECLARATION:
- I will not bow to my green pastures, in Jesus’ name!
