Sheep
WORD PICTURE: SHEEP
Scriptural References:
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving thanks.
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Matthew 11:28-30
(Jesus is speaking:) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
1. Have someone(s) read the scriptures from various translations
2. Show a sheep magnet, toy, or photo. Did you know that mother sheep usually have twins? But sometimes, something goes wrong during a birth, and the mother dies, leaving the newborn lamb or lambs orphans. In order to “fool” an available mother sheep into accepting the orphan as her own, it is necessary to rub the lamb with the bloody birth fluids of the available mother sheep. (Perhaps she has given birth to just one lamb, or her own babies have died.) Smelling a familiar scent, the mother sheep will begin to nurse the lamb and will then bond with it. It is the shepherd’s job to do this--it won’t happen without intervention.
3. My sharing, offered to spark sharing by others.
What I Shared
In many places, the Bible tells us God sees us as sheep. If we are like that, then we are like those little lambs -- and we need a shepherd, too. My trouble is not seeing myself as a sheep -- I know I am like that. I am learning how to let the Lord be my shepherd and things are much better than they used to be for me in my life. The challenge I experience is when someone else is agonizing in life. I have friends who are believers, yet they are twisting on their tether until they are nearly strangled -- they won’t make time in their life to study the Bible or spend quiet time with the Lord. They are literally dying of thirst so near to the stream. But at least they are saved by the Blood, so they are going to heaven.
What really troubles me is the person who is like an orphaned lamb. Because most of my friends and family are highly educated -- and they do not accept the claims of Jesus. They hate the idea of just one way to heaven. And I find it truly difficult to present the power of the blood of Christ to people who literally fear Jesus. I can’t give this away! Yet I remember how I was like that -- until I accepted the saving blood of Jesus. Without it, I would be blown from God’s presence like cinders, but with it, He makes me 100% acceptable before the 100% totally good God.
So -- how do you do with this aspect of Jesus -- that He is the one and only way to eternal life?
All Scripture references from the New International Version of the Bible (NIV).
Copyright by Whitney McKendree Moore, December 2007