A very sweet girl sold me her flock of 22 sheep last Wednesday, and I went to see them this morning. The flock are in a field which runs down to Ullswater Lake. They have the best view in the world, those sheep, especially today as the Fells were covered in pristine snow. It was beautiful to watch, and peaceful to walk amongst them. Very quiet today, almost no traffic on the road due to the heavy snow. The drive to the hotel, (to which the field is adjacent), was slippery, and no cars tried to come down it.
On entering the field the sheep (who are very tame) came over to me with the feed bucket. After counting them I counted only 21, and heard the missing sheep “baa-ing”, a little way off. I didn’t take long to find it, it was completely entangled in a web of brambles on the edge of the field. I was grateful to have my Swiss army knife with me, but even with the knife, it took me ten minutes to cut the sheep free. This involved using the scissors to trim some of the wool, and the blade to cut some of the brambles.
I was very gentle with this young sheep, and there were two reasons for doing so. First, the girl who sold me the lambs is very gentle. It defines her character and makes her the beautiful young woman she is.
Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewellery, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.
Because of my affection for the ‘shepherdess’, I was particularly careful with the tangled sheep.
The second reason is connected to the first. Although I am the new ‘owner’ of the flock, really I am just the ‘keeper’ or ‘steward.’ All sheep belong to God, men just ‘keep’ them. The shepherdess was the first keeper of this flock, and she has raised many of the sheep since they were lambs. I am the second keeper, but I expect she’ll quite probably want them back when she returns from her travels. I don’t want her to be disappointed in the way I have managed the flock, when she comes back, even though I don’t know exactly when she will return, or even if she will want the sheep back.
This has got me thinking about the good and perfect shepherd, Jesus Christ. He cares for his flock, even laying down his life for us. He also speaks to us, and if we are of his flock, then we hear his voice. I want to listen to him all the more keenly this year, for I know he is the good shepherd.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Jesus Christ has only one ‘flock,’ but he has many sheep ‘folds.’ I like the one I’m in, and I like the way the Lord used a real sheep to teach me a lesson today. Sheep need looking after, they need a shepherd.
And so do I.
Reader, thanks for taking the time to read this far. In a busy world you could have done anything else.
So I appreciate your time, please visit again soon.
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