Love Christ Now

"He makes me to lie down."  He does not compel me.  That is not the Lord's method; He finds a better way.  If He compelled me to lie down, there would be no pleasure in it.  When a sheep is compelled to lie down, it is in fear; it can not but dread what is to happen to it.  So, the Lord does not compel me.  He leads me in the pastures of tender grass, and I eat until I am satisfied, and being satisfied with the sweet and luscious pasturage, I lie down, content.  While the sheep is hungry, it will not lie down in the pasture; it desires to eat.  But when it has eaten its fill, it lies down and rests and is satisfied.  So He feeds my soul day by day; the good things of His kingdom does He give unto me.  He satisfies my soul with fatness, and I desire nothing more than what He gives me, and that with a generous hand.  He knows all my needs.  He supplies every one, that I may be "fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright."

There are many enemies about, but "He makes me to lie down."  I am in quietness.  My heart is not afraid.  The Shepherd stands between me and those ravening wolves.  The lion and the bear can not harm me, for the Shepherd stands as my protector.  His eye shall watch while I lie down.  His ear shall hearken and shall hear the sound of their footsteps if they come near.  I trust Jesus, the Christ, and my Shepherd.  It is this trust that enables me to lie down.