The Bible tells us that you and I are just like sheep going astray. Did you ever see just one stray sheep? Usually all the others will follow the leader, no matter where he is heading. However, I saw an unusual sight at the sheep farm near our house.
Two men were following a single sheep and herding it along as it ran beside the fence. They were trying to return it to the sheepfold with the others. The sheep was looking this way and that, watching for a hole in the fence as a way of escape. It was a most unhappy creature; I could see fear and distrust in its face. No doubt it wanted to get through the fence, away from its rescuers and out onto the highway. It was a busy highway, and the sheep would certainly have been killed. I don’t know how it had become separated from the others, but the shepherds had found it and were not going to let it go until it was safe in the fold.
Are you like that little sheep? Are you heading in every direction to get away from the Good Shepherd who loves you and gave His life for you? Isaiah 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6) tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.” The Good Shepherd wants to save you, but like the sheep I saw, you may want to go where only danger awaits. Those shepherds cared for that one lost sheep, and “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)).
Remember, Jesus, the Son of God, loves you and gave Himself for you, because He is the greatest Shepherd of all.
ML-03/12/2017