While I was in high school I was in the FFA (Future Farmers of America). I raised and showed lambs. Having been around animals my entire life I had never had a lamb and this was such a fun experience.
The summer before I began my freshman year, my dad took me to a local farm and we bought a wild lamb. The young lamb was not happy to be taken from the herd. He was covered in burrs, he was very dirty and his wool was so thick and matted. He wasn’t as cute as I had hoped but I loved him instantly.
When we got him home we had to keep him on a leash so we could clean him up. My dad, my brother and I bathed and groomed him. He didn’t even look the same. As we were cleaning him up I kept talking to him, calling him by his name, Blue Boy. I would touch his face and love on him. I was getting to know him and he was learning to trust my voice.
It took a couple of hours to get him clean. When Blue Boy was all cleaned up I took him to his pen and removed the leash. Much to my surprise, he began to follow me around the yard. He responded to my voice. He didn’t respond to anyone else but me. If he heard my voice and I wasn’t near him, he would bleat, as if to call on me to come to him. Blue Boy depended on me to feed, water, protect and care for him.
Throughout my adult life I have often thought about those times and reflected on the Biblical truths that parallel my experience. I’ve seen firsthand how a sheep will know the shepherd and will follow them because they trust them. Much like we as Christians and our shepherd.
We may be dirty, unkempt and have the burrs of life embedded into us, but there is a Shepherd who will take us and clean us up. There are times when we may stray and get lost from the fold, but there is a Shepherd who will take us back. Our Shepherd is a great provider, protector and caregiver.
Jesus is our Shepherd. John chapter 10 tells us about the Good Shepherd. It goes on to tell us that we the sheep know the Shepherd’s voice and follow it. (John 10;27). Do you know the Shepherd’s voice? Are you obeying His voice?
I want to encourage you today, get to know the Shepherd’s voice. He will lead, guide, protect and provide for you. He will keep you! Read what Jesus has to say in John 10 and find comfort in the Shepherd.
Fun fact: I’m still an animal lover. This picture was taken in Bethlehem March 2019. This lamb belonged to a little shepherd boy.