While praying, the image of a sheep following a shepherd came to mind, and I began to ponder it; the song that came to mind while thinking about this was ‘Shepherd of My Soul.’ What makes the sheep believe in their Shepherd? What causes the Shepherd to be so patient with the sheep? Because sheep are often docile, peaceful, and innocent, shepherding them is simple. They easily go astray as well as they follow their shepherd.
The shepherd has a sense of ownership over the sheep, and if you’ve ever noticed, there’s a seal on the sheep’s ears that represents ownership. Because we are God’s sheep, we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption, and that seal also represents God’s ownership over us.
Another characteristic of the sheep is that it recognizes its master, thus it hears the shepherd’s voice, constantly stays near to the shepherd, so it feels protected and safe, and follows the master wherever he goes; there is trust between the sheep and the shepherd. As John 10:27 says “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
When we read and meditate on this text, we should ask ourselves three things.
(1) Are we listening to our Shepherd’s voice, or are we distracted by all the other voices?
(2) God knows who we are, but do we know who God is?
(3) Do we follow God or go with the flow of the world?
A sheep that knows its Shepherd will never go astray. Another attribute of the sheep is that it follows the shepherd blindly and so has complete confidence in the Shepherd, whether it be the hills or the valleys.
The sheep and the Shepherd have such a strong bond that the sheep feels loved and secure since it is always with the Master. The Shepherd always carries a rod in his hands to protect and punish the sheep, and the sheep submit to the correction and go back on course. Let us pause to consider who is our Shepherd; is it our boss? our parents? our friends? or our Lord Jesus Christ? There is no need to be concerned when the Lord is our Shepherd because the Shepherd will take you and lead you to the right destination, which will only happen when you completely surrender your life to Him.