I'm a Sheep. And So Are You.

What can I say, I'm a sheep. Now, sheep have gotten a really bad rap, particularly when it comes to our political inclinations. Every side thinks the others are blindly following, unable to think for themselves. Every group believes others are herds of sheep being led to their peril by deviant shepherds (who, btw, are sheep themselves). A few weeks back, I wrote an article (The Life We Live) about the things that culturally and societally keep us thinking in ways opposite kingdom-mindedness. As I read John 10:27, 28 this morning, I realized this, too, was one of those things:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

No one wants to be a sheep. To be a sheep in our society is to be a follower --a mindless, subservient, weak follower, destined for slaughter. However, the fact of the matter is, we are all sheep. Notice, Jesus says, "My sheep." If He identifies some sheep as His, there must be others, right? There sure are, every other person who isn't His. 

Scripture calls us sheep for lots of reasons: sheep are social in nature, sheep require the care and protection of a shepherd, sheep have a terrible sense of direction, sheep aren't known for being incredibly discerning (except when it comes to their shepherd's voice) --just to name a few. Sure, we tell ourselves we are self-sufficient: I don't need anyone! Sure, we tell ourselves we are autonomous: No one tells me what to do! But all of that blustering usually turns out to be just that when something rocks our world. We're on the phone to the first person who will listen or posting our feelings all over social media. We...are...sheep. The interesting is this, though we cannot choose our nature (in the sense that we are sheep), we can choose our Shepherd. If Jesus has His sheep, and Jesus gives His sheep eternal life, and His sheep will not perish, and no one can take His sheep away from Him, to whom do all of those who are not His sheep belong? and what do they get?

There is another shepherd, an enemy, really. He is not equal to the Good Shepherd, Jesus. He cannot retain his sheep if they are marked with the Good Shepherd's mark, nor does he really want to --at least, not for their sakes. He's not in it for the sheep; he's in it for himself. He will use up his sheep and leave them lying where they fall. He will deceive them into joining his fold like a collector accumulating possessions for his own celebrity. He will use those in his fold to attract more. He will ignore their injuries and illnesses. He will trap them and has nothing to offer them but the worst of deaths. He is really a hungry lion in disguise, wanting only to consume and devour, satisfying nothing but his appetite. He will lose in the end, and all those with him. He is the shepherd of this world, the shepherd of all those who have not chosen to be shepherded by the One who came to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many sheep. 

I am a sheep. You are a sheep. Who is your shepherd?

Photo courtesy stickandcaneshop.co.uk