Sept 3, 2024
Sheep need each other and need direction. If all is well, they scatter about the pasture. They would move even farther apart unless there’s something that keeps them together. Even a two-week-old baby lamb starts wandering off. It comes back to its mother when she rings the dinner bell or if there’s a scare. Each sheep rushes as fast as possible to the most delectable forage, taking possession of what’s “theirs.” The overfat ones have no mercy, they push others around. They all determine among themselves who has to move out of the way.
Shepherds not only protect the flock but also ensure adequate feed so each gets fair treatment. Jesus went to the ones who had been pushed away, the outcasts, the needy ones. Jesus knows we need more than food. Bears and lions lurk nearby, and bully sheep can steal from the weaker ones.
When we are so eager to find a place to serve, it can be that we’ve scattered across the land seeking identity. A resting flock has put aside their restlessness by trusting their leader. Joseph was helpless in the pit and in prison, but at the right time, His Shepherd moved him into his destiny.
