In the final chapters of A Shepherd looks at Psalm 23 verse is:
"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."
Phillip Keller, the author and former shepherd, writes about how the sheep can be beneficial if properly managed.
Their manure provides enormous benefits to the soil.
They eat all sorts of weeds and other undesirable plants that might otherwise invade a field.
In a few years a flock of well-managed sheep will clean up and restore a piece of ravaged land as not other creature can.
Where previously there had been only poverty and pathetic waste, there now followed flourishing fields and rich abundance.
In other words, goodness and mercy followed the flocks. They left behind them something worthwhile, productive, beautiful and beneficial to both themselves, others and the ranch owner. Where they walked there followed fertility and weed-free land. Where they had lived there remained beauty and abundance.
The questions now come to me pointedly:
Is this true of my life?
Do I leave a blessing and benediction behind me?
Do I leave a trail of sadness or gladness behind?
Is my memory, in other people's minds, entwined with mercy and goodness, or would they rather forget me altogether?
Do I deposit a blessing behind me, or am I a bane to others?
Is my life a pleasure to people or pain?
Sometimes it is profitable to ask ourselves such simple questions as:
Do I leave behind peace in lives- or turmoil?
Do I leave behind forgiveness- or bitterness?
Do I leave behind contentment- or conflict?
Do I leave behind flowers of joy- or frustration?
Do I leave behind love- or rancor?
Jesus' good and kindly acts were commingled with mercy. When so often other human beings were rude and harsh and vindictive of one another. His compassion and tenderness were always apparent. Even the most flagrant of sinners found forgiveness with Him, whereas at the hands of their fellow men they knew only condemnation, censure and cruel criticism.
And again I have to ask myself:
Is this my attitude to other people?
Do I sit up on my pedestal of self-pride and look with contempt upon my contemporaries, or do I get down and identify myself with them in their dilemma and there extend a small measure of the goodness and mercy given to me by Christ Jesus?
Do I see sinners with the compassion of Christ or with the critical eye of censure?
Am I willing to overlook faults and weaknesses in others and extend forgiveness as God has forgiven my failings?
The only real practical measure of my appreciation for the goodness and mercy of God to me is the extent to which I am, in turn, prepared to show goodness and mercy to others.
