I grew up in Chicago so what do I know about sheep? For goodness sake, they had sheep in the zoo so we deprived city kids would know what real sheep look like.  Fortunately, I had a seminary professor, Dr. Walter Michel, who had been a shepherd as a boy in Yugoslavia. He explained sheep to us urban dummies. As I recall, this is what he said.

“Sheep are the dumbest creatures God ever made. One will be eating some grass and then sees another bit that looks greener over there so he goes to it. Then he sees another bit a little further on. He just wanders from clump of grass to another until he looks up and doesn’t see another sheep. Does he try to find his way back again? No! He lets out a few baaahs, then lays down on the ground and waits to be found.”

Matthew compared people to sheep. “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Is that some kind of insult? Are we being compared to the dumbest creatures God ever made? Yep. Like sheep we flit from one thing to another always thinking we’re getting something better. We wander off from God and if it were left to us, we’d remain lost. So Jesus, the Good Shepherd, seeks us out to bring us home.

I’m really grateful that Good Shepherd found me. How can I thank him? Maybe this is the best I can do: Baaah!

Read Matthew 18:10-13 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne