Returned Unto the Shepherd

With the Shepherd

Peter names both the wandering and the return in a single sentence, past tense on both ends. Ye were as sheep going astray, an honest acknowledgment of real distance and real wandering. But are now returned, a completed action, not an ongoing struggle still in progress. The return, for those in Christ, has already happened.

Notice the specific title given: the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. Bishop here carries the sense of overseer, one who watches carefully over the actual condition of what he cares for. This is not distant, occasional shepherding. It is close, attentive oversight of your soul specifically, not merely your circumstances.

If you still feel like the sheep going astray, distant and wandering, this verse offers a needed correction. In Christ, the return has already been accomplished, not merely promised for some future date once you finally get yourself sorted out. You are now returned, under the close, careful oversight of the shepherd and bishop of your soul.

Live today from the settled reality of return, not the ongoing anxiety of still being lost. The wandering was real. So is the return. Walk in the second, not the first.