Of Sheep and People

 

A story is told of a lamb and its mother. It seems the lamb passed by the pig pen each morning on the way to pasture with its mother. Watching the pigs wallow in the mud seemed like fun and on an especially hot day the lamb asked its mother if he could jump the fence and wallow in the cool mud. “No,” she replied. Then the lamb asked the usual question, “Why?” The mother just said, “Sheep don’t wallow.” This did not satisfy the lamb. He felt she had “put him down” – exercised force she shouldn’t have, etc. So, as soon as his mother was out of sight the lamb ran to the pig pen and jumped the fence. He was soon feeling the cool mud on his feet, then his legs and then his stomach. After a short while he decided he had better get back to his mother, but he couldn’t move! He was stuck! Mud and wool don’t mix. His pleasure had become his prison. He was hopelessly bound by his own folly. He cried out and was rescued by the kindly farmer. When cleaned and returned to the fold, his mother said, “Remember what I said? Sheep don’t wallow.”

[Psalm 23] Ever notice how many times Scripture compares us to sheep, or actually calls us sheep? The 23^rd Psalm is all about a shepherd and sheep. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11) who is willing to give his life for his sheep. He said he was sent to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24). “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Lessons can be learned simply by thinking about this comparison. For instance, a sheep loses its way really easy. And unlike a dog or cat, it has no built-in sense of direction to navigate its way back home. A sheep has to be shown the way, led, not driven. A sheep cannot do much fighting and is not a good runner. If lost, a sheep must either be found and rescued or become the victim of predators. Sound familiar?

Sheep need other sheep. I don’t ever remember seeing lone sheep in a pasture. They seem to thrive in bunches – flocks if you please. When threatened by danger, sheep will just naturally gravitate together for security. God knows us and He knows we need each other, especially when we are threatened by illness, disease, suffering, sin, death, or by the pressures thrown at us by an unbelieving culture.

Sheep are hard to train. When was the last time you saw a sheep preforming in a circus or a fair, or on stage? What a sheep does best is simply follow. It needs a leader – a shepherd – who can show the way. A sheep will follow someone. That is why God has ordained elders to show the way for the sheep. We need guidance, leadership. You can turn a dog or a cat loose and they can catch a squirrel or a mouse. But sheep need daily personal care. We are that much like sheep. * Sheep cannot hide. Some animals and birds seem to blend into their environment; not sheep. A sheep is easy to spot.

So, you see, sheep can’t run very fast, fight very well, or hide. And Christians are a lot like that. We are not here to run, fight, or hide. A sheep is not violent by nature. Neither is a Christian. A sheep constantly gives of itself (wool). So does a Christian.

In Matthew 25:32, Jesus tells how it will be on the Day of Judgement. “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.”

Is your name written in the Lambs Book of Life? Why should it be? (Revelation 21:27)

Remember - sheep don’t wallow. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15-17).