II Chronicles 15:2 “And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.”
Under leadership of the Holy Spirit, “Azariah” the Prophet delivered this principal tenet of Shepherding and Following to “Asa”, king of Judah: “The LORD is with you, while ye be with him”! “The Lord is” our Shepherd and we are His Sheep. When the Sheep begin to drift away from the Shepherd, the lurking vicious animals begin to prey upon them and they are powerless to defend themselves. To “be with” “The LORD” is to joyfully follow Him by lovingly and prayerfully learning and obeying His Word, attending and joining His Church, and shunning the enticements that would draw us away from following Him. It is not possible for “The LORD” to eternally lose a single one of His Sheep/Children (John 6:39); but, we can certainly become distracted and drawn away from following “The LORD” and fall into spiritual lethargy and unbiblical behavior. Said another way, “If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: 20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.” (Isaiah 1:19-20). In this context, “while” we are following and obeying “The LORD”, He “is with” us to lead us, to show His love to us, to fill us with the joy of His Holy Presence with us, to encourage us with His Holy Spirit, to nourish us with His Holy Word, and to protect us from the lurking harms. Now is the time for all the Lord’s Sheep to check to see if we are following our Shepherd or, have we been enticed and led astray! This self-check begins on our knees in sincere prayer, then reading the Word of God, then going and participating in the Lord’s Church! Paul put it this way, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2)!