Luke 12:32
32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the loving Shepherd of all those who follow Him in faith and obedience. Jesus referred to His followers as His flock. Concerning them, He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). Interestingly, He called them “little flock”, referring to the fact that they were few in number and defenceless on their own against their foes.
Jesus referred to them as “little flock”, not to ridicule their small frame or frail existence in this hostile world, but to tenderly assure them of God’s love. He knew how terrified they would be at the sight of the cruel and ravenous enemies surrounding them. Without the strength and means to defend or escape, they would be frightened and discouraged. So their kind Shepherd instructed them not to fear. He calmed their anxious, troubled hearts, saying, “Fear not, little flock”.
Throughout Scripture, the Lord has encouraged His people not to fear. In fact, Scripture has exhorted believers about 84 times to “fear not”, or “fear ye not”, or “fear thou not”. Let us not fear temptations, trials or sufferings or even death. Fear can wreck our peace and effectiveness. So our Lord does not want us to live in constant dread of troubles.
It is the Lord’s instruction that we constantly think of the heavenly Father’s good pleasure towards us. So He proclaimed, “for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Instead of thinking of those things that cause fear, we should think of the good pleasure of our God that gives us His kingdom. Instead of giving in to slavish fear, we should think of His goodness towards us which makes us heirs of His kingdom through His Son. Our minds must dwell upon God’s tender love towards us. Troubles may come upon us, but they will never succeed to hinder our heavenly Father’s love and goodness towards us.
We are now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. As Paul said in Romans 8:17, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Let us endure the trials that would come our way as they only prove that we are not a people of this world ruled by Satan, but rather, heirs of God’s eternal kingdom.