Owen and I have been going through Psalm 23 and he is memorizing it little by little. We worked on verse 4 today and yesterday we memorized verse 3. "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." I'm trying to explain each verse to him and give him examples of what the concepts are. I asked him if he knew what the word restore meant and he didn't. The first thing that came to mind was the buffet I recently finished fixing up.

In explaining the process of bringing this piece back to life, I realized the importance of the second part of the verse. I asked him this question, "after mommy fixed up the buffet did I put it back down in grandpa's basement?" Of course not, I put it on display in the foyer, where it will not only be well cared for, it will be appreciated and bring kudos to it's restorer. In this case that's me.

So it is when our Shepherd restores our souls. He does not work such miracles in us only to leave us where he found us, He sets us on a path to better things. On the path of righteousness He carries us when we need to be carried, he dusts us off when we need dusting, he polishes and continuously looks over His work putting us on display for His name's sake. He shows us how to take care of ourselves and how to bring glory to Him. He uses us and shows His pride in us. He not only restores, he maintains and improves us daily.

I'm not just talking about salvation either. I think we get so caught up in redemption for the lost (which is a high priority, don't get me wrong) that we forget grace is for saints as well. I need grace and redemption for failed attempts at ministry, for snippy and careless words said to my two year old. I need restoration when I feel destroyed by the neglect of others or the loss of a friendship. We are not always on the path of righteousness...I for one need a shepherd pretty badly sometimes in order to get back on track.