It's Good to be a Sheep

In Jeremiah 23, the Lord refers to His people as His sheep. This was in no way intended to be a slam or a put down.

As someone who grew up with sheep let me be honest - I used to say that sheep were stupid - and in a way - they are. I remember once watching as a bunch of sheep ran down the alley of our corral. There was a spot in the fence where the sun shone through and caused a sunbeam break in the shadows. Each and everyone of those stupid sheep jumped over that beam. Another time I remember holding a board out in front of the lead sheep trying to get it to stop - of course the sheep just jumped over it. In frustration, I took the board away but was amazed as each and every one of the remaining sheep also jumped over the place where I had previously been holding the board. Another way that sheep are stupid is they will stick their head through the smallest possible hole in a fence and proceed to push and shove until they get their whole body through.

The more I think about it though - a couple of things come to mind. Sheep are followers. For us as people - this can be good or this can be bad. We have to ask ourselves - if we are sheep and if we are following - what or who are we following? How do we know that we are following the right thing? How do we know that we are jumping at the right spot or over the right thing?

That is why it is so important to know the voice of God and follow the voice of God. In the New Testament - the bible says that Jesus is the Good Shepherd - and that his sheep know his voice and follow his voice. The only way that we can get to know his voice is to listen to it - over and over and over again.

The other great thing about being a sheep and having a shepherd is that when we get scared and when we get scattered by wolves and we find ourselves lost - we can be assured that the Good Shepherd will come and find us and rescue us. He will also hunt down the wolves that prey on us.