Following as Sheep

Anyone who has witnessed sheep in their natural state, or heard a particularly vivid description of their behavior, will squirm a bit as they read in Matthew 9:36, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”  I cringed, not at the reference to my feeling “harassed and helpless,” because I often do.  But ‘sheep-like’ ?  Really?

But that was just the narrative, right?  Jesus Himself hadn’t said it.  Oh, wait!  John 10 quotes Jesus as saying He is the Good Shepherd, and we are the sheep.  This passage carries a depth of meaning, all comforting with the promise of Jesus’ love and care for us.  But it still stings—especially  when we understand the nature of sheep.  A couple of examples:

I once read of a flock of sheep in a pen, being herded into a narrow ramp, and loaded into a truck.  One observer noticed that as each sheep came to a particular point in the ramp, it jumped.  The man walked around to see what was in their way.  He found a piece of the railing had come loose and fell across their path on the ramp; he pulled it out of their way.  As he stepped back to his position, he saw that the sheep were still jumping—no barrier anymore, but they were just doing what the sheep in front of them had done!

Sheep have a strong flocking instinct. They tend to follow each other, sometimes into dangerous situations. There are countless stories of sheep following each other off cliffs or into rivers simply because one sheep took a wrong turn. This illustrates how, without wise leadership, we can be led astray by following the crowd, succumbing to peer pressure, or making decisions based on what others are doing rather than what is right.  The Good Shepherd not only provides direction but also rescues us from the pitfalls of our own wandering. In John 10:11, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

A friend told me the other day of something she had heard about sheep—that they only eat the grass in front of them, completely unaware of the greener pastures surrounding them.  Sometimes they need to be turned, as they will not turn their head for a morsel to the left or the right.  Without the guidance of a shepherd, they risk starvation, not because food is scarce, but because they are unable to find it on their own.

The parallel is obvious.  We as individuals are similar;  we often focus solely on what is immediately in front of us—our current circumstances, worries, or desires—without seeing the bigger picture. Without a shepherd, the sheep’s survival is at great risk, making the metaphor of Jesus as our Good Shepherd all the more powerful. The Good Shepherd guides us to greener pastures, to opportunities and blessings we might otherwise miss.

The reason I still cringe at the comparison to sheep is I see it in myself so often—jumping into a cause just because others are doing so, stuck in the same spot, bored and hungry for greener pastures without lifting my head to see to what Jesus is calling me.  Fifty years walking with the Lord, and I still see this in myself.

So, I pray:  “Father, I want to stop and ask you about what is blocking the path in front of me.  I want to hear and follow Your voice and Yours alone.  I want to follow the Good Shepherd into my little corner of a world of people harassed and helpless.  I want to follow You so closely that I see what You see, feel what You feel, and do what You do.  May it be so, Jesus!”