Alien approaching….flock retreat …Shepherd approaching flock regroup…!!!!!
Moses protected the seven daughters of Jethro and helped them to draw water and watered the flock, David saved the sheep from the lion and bear, Abel was a keeper of sheep, Jacob aka Israel was a savvy shepherd…and so on……….
I’ve often wondered why God loves shepherds so much that He uses them frequently to describe his intentions towards mankind.
There is something about the protective nature of a shepherd that must have appealed to Him. On vacation once in the Lake District I observed the sheep scatted on the hills, looking ever so content. The only thing they seemed to do was stand in one place eating grass….oh and the other thing was to lie down when not eating. They appeared very docile, harmless and gentle. Indeed when I tried to take a picture with the flock to my disappointment they all moved away as they saw me approaching. If I could’ve heard their thoughts it would be something like….who in the world is she what does she want from us….don’t know her…… scary alien approaching……retreat now!!!
Well, it certainly seemed a lot like that. I managed to take one photo with them (sheep) far away in the background….not quite what I was hoping to achieve but better than nothing.
Blessed is their shepherd I thought sulkily as I couldn’t get my prized photo…bet they wouldn’t hide from him for they’ll recognise his voice and form…….and how come they stay put in the place where they are kept….not roaming around the hills. It seems like they trusted the shepherd who left them there to come get them at the right time and really didn’t seem to want anything else in the world or with the world. Just….peace, quiet and contentment away from it all…….
The reason I wanted the photo was to remind me of my relationship with God. He is the great shepherd and I am His sheep Psalm 77:20. In Gods eyes I need to be like the sheep……innocent, trusting, content, feeding, resting.
In reality sheep ultimately end up providing food and warmth to us men. Jesus did that for us and for the whole wide world when He lived his life following the instructions of the great shepherd and gave Himself up as a sacrifice so we would be clothed and fed…made alive…i.e. our spirits.
Now we who are alive ought to go out there and do the same….not on a cross, for that was a once and for all deed by our Shepherd Jesus but to preach the good news like he did. He said we would do greater works than He, possibly collectively as a body or individually. In return He will guide us (remember my sheep here my voice….John 10:27) as we trust Him with our lives as the sheep in Psalm 23 did.
To my fellow sheep out there at the pews, in the pulpits, the town squares, the prisons, hostile territory, palaces, poorly shacks, foreign lands, home lands, work places, homes, hospitals, hospices, neighbourhoods, buses, planes, outer space, anywhere, everywhere…..hang in there like those sheep from the Lake District…….for it certainly won’t be long till we all come home…..till we all come home!!!