Sheep

Some of you probably don't know this about me but I genuinely enjoy caring for sheep.  Probably not to the extent that I would leave everything behind to become a shepherdess off in some lonely field, but it is an enjoyable venture for me.  I don't do it on a regular basis, I just enjoy taking care of a herd for a friend now and again while she is on vacation.  As I write this, I am looking out over the field at this particular herd and thinking of the many lessons I have learned from them.


Sheep need a shepherd.  They are uncommonly good at getting themselves into trouble, and they are uncommonly not good at getting themselves back out of the situation in which they find themselves.  They are content to just go along munching on grass and alfalfa until they've made themselves sick.  They need to have their attention redirected.  They cannot often find their way home without help.  And they are inordinately capable of getting themselves into a tangle.


Sounds like people, doesn't it?  There's a good reason Jesus refers to us as His sheep and calls Himself the Good Shepherd.  It's not meant as an insult.  It's meant as a picture of the way our lives are and should be.  Sheep know their shepherd.  They trust him.  They follow him.  They let him get them out of danger.  How often do we try to get ourselves out of danger?  How often do we go our own way only to get helplessly lost?  How often do we refuse to trust God with our difficulties, our burdens, or desires?  And how often do these things work for us?


I'm guilty of this.  I try so hard to be a sheep without a shepherd, not realizing that I am standing in ever rising water that will eventually drown me because I didn't move when my Shepherd told me to.  But I have before me a picture of what it can mean to be a sheep that lets the shepherd take care of it.  These sheep I am watching are well cared for.  They have no wants.  And they aren't allowed to eat too much or to drown in rising flood waters.  If I let Him be that, Jesus is that Shepherd.  I may have a mind of my own, but how much better is it if I just let Him be my Shepherd, guide me, take care of me, protect me?  It is that simple faith that moves mountains.


So, my friends, try to be a little more sheep-like today.