Category: Security

I Just Wanna Be a Sheep

I Just Wanna Be a Sheep

One of the perks of being a youth leader is having permission to act immaturely relive one’s younger years. (Right, Morgan?) The following kids’ song was repeatedly requested in our fifteen passenger van as we drove to and from the “Desperation” conference last month. I found myself happily singing along, belting it out with the rest of them.

(Go ahead. Push play. You know you want to.)

(Now you too can have that song stuck in your head! You’re welcome. Baa Baa Baa.)

Let’s get baaack to the purpose of this blog post.

If you know me, you know I have a thing for sheep.

Apparently Jesus did too.

In John 10 He uses the imagery of a shepherd and his sheep to illustrate the special kind of relationship He has with His flock. Lately John 10:27 has also been on auto replay in my mind:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me… (John 10:27, NAS)

It’s as if the Lord has been saying to me, “Just be a sheep. It’s that simple.”

If that’s the case, then what does it mean to be a sheep in the Shepherd’s care?

It means that…

1) I belong.

“My sheep…”

I can almost hear the pride in His voice as He refers to “My” sheep. He is fiercely possessive of us. Because we belong to Him. We are His.

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! (Isaiah 43:1b, NAS)

2) I am known.

“I know them…”

It’s easy to focus on knowing GOD and overlook the wonderful truth that WE are known by HIM. Don’t we all long to be known, understood, and loved? The fact is, we ARE! The shepherd David penned a beautiful description of sheep living under the knowing gaze of God:

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all. (Psalm 139:1-4, NAS)

3) I can hear His voice.

“My sheep hear My voice…”

Sheep who spend time in the fields with their shepherd come to recognize His voice. It’s the same with our Shepherd. He desires to communicate with us and to teach us to respond to His voice.

Here are a few ways He speaks to us:

Through His Word. Have you ever had a Bible verse just jump out at you? My heart beats a little faster when this happens. Because I know it’s His Spirit, highlighting a particular passage just for me.

Through fellow sheep. He did this last week while I was chatting on the phone with my mom. She just “happened” to say just the right thing at just the right time. God was reaching out to encourage me through her words.

Through prayer. A few days ago, the Lord answered a specific prayer, mid-prayer, by inspiring a new thought in my mind. I knew it was a word from Him, because it was almost startling in its wisdom and clarity.

Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left. (Isaiah 30:21, NLT)

4) I get to follow Him.

“…they follow Me.”

Sheep have only one job, and that is to stay near the shepherd. He is the source of their protection and provision. It only makes sense to follow Him.

My little dog Beau (who actually reminds me of a lamb when his coat is cut short!), is a great example of this. When I leave the room, he leaves the room. When I go out, he waits at the door anticipating my return. He only has eyes for me.

I want to be more like that. Eyes on the Lord, sensitive to His movement, staying close.

He said to him, “Follow Me!” And he got up and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9, NAS)

I think it really IS that simple.

I just wanna be a sheep.

Secure, known, and loved.

Listening, watching, and following.

God, Thou Art Love

God, Thou Art Love

Can I share one of my favorites with you?  It’s a poem by Robert Browning.  I return to it often, because I think it is profound and timeless.

Read it slowly, prayerfully.  Let your soul bask in God’s strong love and rest in His sovereign care.

He’s got you, friend.

Woman in sunlight

God, Thou Art Love

If I forget,
Yet God remembers!
If these hands of mine
Cease from their clinging, yet the hands divine
Hold me so firmly that I cannot fall;
And if sometimes I am too tired to call
For Him to help me, then He reads the prayer
Unspoken in my heart, and lifts my care.

I dare not fear, since certainly I know
That I am in God’s keeping, shielded so
From all that else would harm, and in the hour
Of stern temptation strengthened by His power;
I tread no path in life to Him unknown;
I lift no burden, bear no pain, alone:
My soul a calm, sure hiding-place has found:
The everlasting arms my life surround.

God, Thou art love!
I build my faith on that.
I know Thee who has kept my path, and made
Light for me in the darkness, tempering sorrow
So that it reached me like a solemn joy;
It were too strange that I should doubt Thy love.

—Robert Browning

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