The telephone rang insistently one spring afternoon, and I ran inside to see who was calling. It was Mary Jane, a retired schoolteacher who lives alone on a nearby farm.
“I hate to bother you,” she began, “but I need some help.”
Mary Jane raises sheep for wool and meat. She takes good care of her flock and really seems to love them. Her border collies help her round up and move the sheep, but sometimes she needs friends or neighbors to give her a hand with other chores.
Sheep can’t survive on their own. They need someone to provide food and water, to trim their hooves, to shear their wool and to make sure they are well and safe. Mary Jane tries hard to be a good shepherdess, but sometimes trouble comes to the farm.
This particular afternoon Mary Jane had a problem. When she went out to check her sheep, she noticed one ewe lying by herself near a gate. Going closer, she could see that the sheep had squeezed her head through the gate to reach some hay that was stored behind it and had gotten herself stuck.
Several weeks earlier Mary Jane had wired an extra panel onto this gate to keep the sheep out of the hay . . . or so she thought! This ewe got the hay she was after, all right, but when she tried to back up, her head got wedged in tightly between a set of vertical bars and the horizontal gate bars. She seemed to sense that it was no use struggling and just lay down to wait for help. She had probably been there for hours and would have eventually died of thirst if no one had freed her. Mary Jane had tried and tried, but she couldn’t get her out.
My son and I hurried down to the farm to see if we could help. It was interesting to watch the dog running excitedly around and around this downed ewe, giving her a nip at each turn, as he was trained to do to get her up. It was no use. This situation required more help than a dog could give.
With extra hands to push and pull, and with some creative thinking, the three of us twisted the ewe’s head free of the iron bars. She got up and walked over to the water trough for a long drink.
In John 10:1111I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (John 10:11), Jesus tells us, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd [gives] His life for the sheep.” This is more than any human shepherd can do. It describes perfectly the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. We deserved eternal judgment because of our sins, but He died to pay the debt we owed to God. Now, “he that . . . believeth on Him . . . hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:2424Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)).
Our enemy Satan sometimes acts like a wolf disguised in a sheepskin. He moves among the weak lambs and sheep, trying to get them to listen to his lies. He would like to snare us in one of his traps - the love of money, pleasure or popularity - anything but confessing that we are sinners and coming to Jesus for forgiveness. But Jesus promises, “[You] shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, [you] shall be free indeed” (John 8:32,3632And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
36If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)).
We are unable to save ourselves. Only Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, can release us from Satan’s iron grip and give us a new nature that wants to please Him. Won’t you come to this loving Saviour today? Then you can say with the psalmist David, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want [have need]” (Psalm 23:11<<A Psalm of David.>> The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)).
ML-08/15/2004