“And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer. 3:15 NKJ).

I am grateful for all the sincere men and women of God who I know personally are in the ministry because of a “call” of God upon their individual lives. It is an awesome responsibility to be a pastor. It is also a glorious and high calling.

The word shepherd as Jeremiah used it here means “a guide for the people.” According to the prophet. God’s people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hos. 4:6). I believe that one of the main functions of future pastors will be the feeding, tending, and instructing of their respective flocks with knowledge and understanding.

If God has called you to be a pastor, then ask the Lord to fulfill this verse in your life. Pray that you will be a man or woman after God’s own heart. Pray you will be able to feed the flock entrusted to you with knowledge and understanding.

If you are a new convert and are looking for a church home, then pray that the Lord will lead you to a church with the kind of pastor who leads his people into the full truth of God’s Word. If you are already in a church and functioning as an active member, then pray lovingly and charitably without a critical attitude or judging mind for your pastor to fulfill this verse.

I believe that drastic changes are coming soon to our planet. God is raising up shepherds to feed the flock and guide them through this uncertain world to the next. The pastor who understands his time and function will be able to relate to the flock on how to survive the perilous times which lie ahead.