We always see pictures depicting Jesus as a shepherd and verses to coincide about “feeding the flock,” “the shepherd leaving the flock to search for the lost one.”   He himself is given the title of “the Lamb of God.”  Why not a goat?  Curiously, a study of these two cuties that always show up in petting zoos might help us understand why God’s Word gives us so many references to sheep and Our Shepherd.

Once in a Bible study, I wrote down one of the phrases the leader used: sheep follow and goats butt. Hmm, that creates a real clear picture for me. Definitely, I would like to be a follower of Christ and not “butt” my way through life. Another difference between sheep and goats are their tails. Sheep tails are most often hanging down and goats’ tails are upright. Visually, I can see the tail difference as feeling humble before God and not arrogant or standing up to Him. Isn’t it wonderful that God loves us so unconditionally that He even guided the writers of His word to use powerful pictures for us to understand clearly what He wants of us? He wants to shepherd us and encourage us to follow Him. He does not want even one of us to butt our way into the life He created for us. He does not want arrogance and defiance to define us, but rather a humble, thankful approach to Him.

Bleeting or baaaa-ing. Fluffy or short-haired. Wooly or multi-colored.  The images of sheep and goats are often misidentified one for one another, differences hard to distinguish. Please Lord, allow my humbleness to show and guide my steps as I choose to follow you, my Shepherd.

Originally posted by Jill on November 4, 2018