Sheep

 

SHEEP

God is in the details

everyday without fail.

Consider a powerful little ant that provides aeration

or a blade of grass miraculously producing oxygen.

Yes, even in the smallest details there's a plan

to secure life for this earth and for humans.

What about the sheep in the story of Jesus' birth?

I don't think their being included was an accident.

We read in Luke that shepherds were watching their flocks or herds.

The Old Testament tells us that tending sheep was a common livelihood.

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, King David, to name a few,

were shepherds who herded massive flocks of sheep, not a few.

The sheep in the Christmas story

are metaphors for our life's story.

"All we like sheep have gone astray,"

examples in the Bible teach us today.

The Old Testament shows us again and again

that God's people (His sheep) went astray then turned back again

to God, their Good Shepherd,

as recorded in God's Word.

Went astray as in seeking their own way

then turning back when their own way

caused heartache and hardship,

making a complete flip.

There's a parable in Matthew 18 about one sheep that wanders off.

When the shepherd realizes it, he's leaves the 99 in the fold and off

he goes to seek and save the one that is lost,

which brings the shepherd great joy when it's found safe.

We are like that one sheep that goes astray.

The Good Shepherd, Jesus, is the Way.

He's also the Truth and the Life.

Is Jesus Lord of your life?

Do you seek God's will

over your own will?

If you seek your own will,

Jesus is not the Lord, nil.

It's never too late to turn,

and it's never too late to return.

Find your way like the sheep that was lost - from lost to found.

God will always meet you when you lay your burdens down.

* * * * *

The parable of the 99 was written into a hymn.

The lost is found. Don't you just love happy endings!

The Ninety and Nine

(copied)

There were ninety and nine that safely lay

in the shelter of the flock,

but one was out on the hills far away,

for off in the cold and dark;

away on the mountains wild and bare,

away from the tender shepherd's care,

away from the tender shepherd's care.

Lord, thou hast here thy ninety and nine;

are they not enough for thee?

But the shepherd made answer: This of mine

has wandered away from me;

and although the road be rough and steep,

I go to the desert to find my sheep,

I go to the desert to find my sheep.

And all through the mountains, thunder-riven,

and up from the rocky steep,

there arose a cry to the gate of heaven,

Rejoice! I have found my sheep!

And the angels echoed around the throne,

Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!

Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own.

And if he finds it, I tell you the truth,

he is happier about that one sheep

than about the ninety-nine

that did not wander off.

Matthew 18:13

From sheep to the Good Shepherd.

Jesus wants to be your Good Shepherd.

He wants you to come into the fold

and accept Him as Jesus Christ the Lord.

Matthew states that the shepherd is happy when the lost is found.

When you make the turn around (your waywardness lost, God's way found),

Jesus and all the angels celebrate

this life-changing date.

Meditate on these verses about the sheep and the shepherd.

Let them be a metaphor for your life - before and after the Lord.

Let the sheep of the Bible lead you

to the Good Shepherd who loves you.

There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby,

keeping watch over their flocks at night.

Luke 2:8

The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not be in want.

Psalm 23:1

Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalm 100:3

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way.

Isaiah 53:6

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,

because they were harassed and helpless,

like sheep without a shepherd.

Matthew 9:36

The sheep listen to his voice.

He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own,

he goes on ahead of them,

and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

John 10:3

I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

John 10:11

I am the good shepherd;

I know my sheep and my sheep know me -

just as the Father knows me and I know the Father -

and I lay down my life for the sheep.

John 10:14-15

My sheep listen to my voice;

I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27

Our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,

equip you with everything good for doing his will,

and may he work in us what is pleasing to him

through Jesus Christ,

to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

Hebrews 13:20

For you were like sheep going astray,

but now you have returned to the Shepherd

and Overseer of your souls.

I Peter 2:25