November 26 - The Sheep: If I Could Talk To The Animals

The Sheep:  If I Could Talk To The Animals

“…The sheep recognize His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out.” John 10:3b

An American tourist was traveling in the Middle East. His tour group came upon several shepherds whose flocks had intermingled while drinking water from a brook.  After an exchange of greetings, one of the shepherds turned toward the sheep and called out, "Manah. Manah. Manah." (Manah means "follow me" in Arabic.) Immediately his sheep separated themselves from the rest and followed him. Then one of the two remaining shepherds called out, "Manah. Manah." and his sheep left the common flock to follow him. The traveler then said to the third shepherd, "I would like to try that. Let me put on your cloak and turban and see if I can get the rest of the sheep to follow me." The shepherd smiled knowingly as the traveler wrapped himself in the cloak, put the turban on his head and called out, "Manah. Manah." The sheep did not respond to the stranger’s voice. Not one of them moved toward him.

The Bible tells us that we’re all like sheep. We all follow something in this life. Some follow their own passions and desires.  Some follow leaders. Some follow religions and teachings of mere men.  We all follow something.  But there’s only One who is really worth following.  There’s only One Good Shepherd who was willing to lay down His life for you.  Those who follow Him will have trouble in this life, but He will give them the power to overcome those troubles.  And those who follow Him will accomplish great things with their lives and will ultimately be led to heaven.

There’s no other voice like His. Jesus said “My sheep hear my voice… and they follow me.” The question is, “Do you hear His voice today?”

Some time back, Max Lucado asked the question: Couldn’t God Have Thought Of Something Better Than Sheep? He writes, “Of all God’s animals, the sheep is the least able to take care of himself. Sheep are dumb! Have you ever met a sheep trainer? Ever seen sheep tricks? Know anyone who has taught his sheep to roll over? Ever witnessed a circus sideshow featuring "Mazadon and His Jumping Sheep"? No. Sheep are just too dumb.  And they’re defenseless. They have no fangs or claws. They can’t bite you and they can’t outrun you. “There are not smart ones and dumb ones.  They are simply “dumb and dumber.”  My apologies to Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.

Sheep aren’t real impressive. They’re not known as fighters and they generally don’t have much to brag about, and so the world tends to overlook the church… well, because the church is supposed to be filled with good sheep. The world often wants more excitement. They want more pizzazz and power. They want to get ahead in this world and… well… sheep are generally followers by nature…and bad ones at that.  Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we, like sheep, have gone astray.”  It’s in our nature.  That is why they have to completely rely upon the shepherd. 

So why would I want to be a sheep? Well, you actually don’t get much choice.
God says… you’re a sheep whether you want to be or not. That’s kind of how He created you. He created you to be followers… of something.
And if you look real close at other people’s lives you’ll find that it’s true.

John uses many images in his Gospel, but my favorite one is that of Jesus as a shepherd. Like a shepherd, Jesus is concerned with the welfare and the care of His sheep. The shepherd loves his sheep. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd. Rather than using lofty terms such as King, Commissioner, Chairman or Mayor, He calls Himself a “Shepherd.”  He also refers to Himself as a servant… a caretaker…a watchmen…and a provider.   We are His people and the sheep of His pasture…We depend on God, for everything…And just as a shepherd watches over his sheep…So does God watch over His children…

Two caretakers are mentioned in this account, the Good Shepherd, and the hired hand. The hired hand had no connection with the sheep, no relationship with the sheep. He thought of himself first and the sheep last. If a sheep was attacked by a wolf, or lost, oh well. Then there is the good shepherd. The good shepherd is the owner of the sheep. He has a special relationship with them. Most owners didn’t own a lot of sheep. A flock of 100 was huge. Most flocks were no larger than 10-20. Sheep were like valued pets. There was nothing about their sheep that the good shepherd did not know. The individual sheep in a flock all look alike to the untrained eye. A good shepherd, however, can tell them apart--often because of their markings or peculiar traits.
You see, a shepherd, in order to know his sheep and care for them, has to live among them.

But the Bible constantly drives home to us the fact that – it doesn’t matter what else you follow - if Jesus isn’t at the core of our life…

1. We will be lost:  “We (are) all (going to be), like sheep, (who) have gone astray...” (Isaiah 53:6) Unless you follow Jesus, your life will end up not going anywhere.  You’ll always end up going astray.

2. We will be unfulfilled:  You’re not going to have the power to be happy and content. As it says in Matthew 9:36, When (Jesus) saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Father God, in Jesus we have a true shepherd. We come together as the sheep of His fold to worship You and give thanks for this great gift. Help us to draw close to you that by your love and our attentive listening, we may become so familiar with Christ’s voice that we will not be deceived or led astray by any other. Nurture and equip us as faithful leaders and ministers of your gospel according to Christ’s example, we pray. Amen

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)  We learn to recognize the voice of musical stars on the radio and famous people we admire?  How can we learn to hear the Shepherd’s voice?

2)   Why is it sometimes difficult?

Consider reading the Word today:

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser