If you are a Christian you really have to get your mind around sheep! The reason for this is because the Bible, and especially the New Testament, often refers to us as sheep. The French poet Jean de La Fontaine reflected amusingly, ‘A certain fox, it is said, wanted to become a wolf! Ah! Who can say why no wolf has ever craved the life of a sheep!’
The downside about sheep is that they need guiding, leading, and feeding. They are easy prey to predators such as wolves and foxes, and are prone to stray and wander into danger. Sheep do what sheep do best and that is follow. On the plus side, and probably the greatest strength of sheep, is that they quickly learn to recognize the voice of the shepherd.
We are the sheep and the Lord Jesus is the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd leads us to eternal life, for the goal and purpose of our pilgrimage is to be united with the Lord forever and enjoy the everlasting blessings and graces of sharing in God’s divine life. Christians can be wrongly criticized for having their heads so far up in the clouds that they are of no earthly good. Actually, the problem tends to be that we don’t have our heads high enough up in the clouds. We don’t tend to think or pray very much about heaven or the gift of eternal life and this is a mistake. Jesus said: ‘For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day‘ (John 6:40). Paul put it so beautifully when he said: ‘Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses‘ (1 Timothy 6:12).