Sheep

 You probably don’t know these sheep by name, but I have it on good authority that the one on the left with the toothy grin is shorn. My wife and I spent a large part of our life looking after sheep. Don’t ever call them silly though because the bible reckons we are very much like them! For example Isaiah, in the 53^rd chapter of the book he wrote (with the inspiration of God) said “We all like sheep have gone astray and turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”. (The highlighted words there refer to Jesus forgiveness of our sin if we believe in Him).

To fully understand what is wrong with “going astray”, we have to realise that the sheep he was talking about would have normally been under the guidance and protection of a Shepherd who would lead them to good pasture and cool water during the day and protect them from predators and keep them from swampy areas where they might pick up Liver Fluke or whatever. In the evening they would follow him back to a “fold”, or as we would say “a sheep yard”, where he would lock them in safely until morning. Now that sort of protection takes all the stress out of their lives, whereas if they had chosen to go astray and “do their own thing” they could be attacked by wolves or dingoes or wild dogs (depending on where they lived) and also be attacked by more subtle things like internal parasites such as worms, also blowflies, and grass seeds penetrating their skin, foot rot, lice, scabby mouth, and skin cancers (just to name a few). With no one there to help them.

Jesus is adamant that we are all in the same boat as those sheep, constantly being attacked one way or another: e.g. the drug pusher, isn’t he the equivalent of a wolf or dingo? And is being attacked by blowflies any better than the ad in the paper tempting some person to visit a brothel? Is being hooked on drugs any better than a sheep’s stomach worms? The answer is NO! And the list goes on, how about selfishness that ruins our relationships? And resentment that eats away our happiness? We desperately need Jesus (The Good Shepherd) to clean away all our sin. After all His prayer says “Deliver us from evil” and His saving grace does that, so that we can say with David, (the shepherd boy who became king), and wrote the 23^rd Psalm: “The lord is my shepherd, I shall not want, He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul, He leads me in the paths or righteousness for His names sake; even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows; Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever”. Let’s face it that is the way to go!

Proverbs 3:5&6 says to: “trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths” Now that’s not a bad deal either! Is it? In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said “Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”. Most of us could do with that too!

The world is in a mess, God wants us to live in this world but not to participate in its shoddy degrading behaviour and not to be stressed out by fears and worries either; that is why Paul said in Philippians 4:7 “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth understanding will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. Now   that is the way to enjoy life. We don’t constantly worry about our house burning down do we? Because we have asked the Insurance Company to take care of that; well then God wants to be our Insurance Company and look after our lives. So relax then, ask His forgiveness, follow His directions and live above the circumstances like those sheep following their Good Shepherd; surely they aren’t smarter than we are! Are they?

Best wishes as you prove that you are as smart as them.  Regards, Tom.