His Sheep Am I

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It’s been some time now – I was younger then. It was my first trip to Israel, that strange and wonderful country of the Bible. And so it was I sat on the side of a hill overlooking the Judean countryside.

It was the hour just before dawn – the shadows were being chased away by the false light of early morning. The eastern horizon would soon turn a brilliant red with the rising sun – but now as I looked over the valley from my vantagepoint there was a strange and peaceful silence, which lay over the land like a veil.

As I watched the shadows retreat and the eastern sky turn red, the silence was broken by the lilting sounds of a flute, which seemed to float with the still, soft breeze. Looking closely I could make out a young shepherd boy calling his sheep for the day. I don’t think I have ever heard a more lovely sound in such magnificent surroundings as I did that day.

I could make out the bleating of the sheep as they crowed against the enclosure, pushing and shoving to get out. Opening the gate, the young shepherd lad and his dog led the sheep toward the distant pastures – leading them as he played his flute.

My thoughts went to Isaiah – “All we like sheep,” he said, “have gone astray. Each one of us has turned to his own way…”

Sheep are like that you know – they run hither and yon, they scatter and stray. Much like us I think. Sheep are simple creatures – they need a shepherd. Without a shepherd sheep panic, driven by terror – they can easily destroy themselves.

Sheep grow up under the tutelage of the shepherd. As the days and months go by a deep and unusual bond develops between sheep and shepherd. They hear his voice and follow him – by their nature they are utterly dependent upon him. Without a shepherd the sheep are lost.

God doesn’t refer us to goats, but to sheep – and sheep we are. Once we were without a Shepherd, we had gone astray, each to his own way. But God in His infinite grace and mercy became a Shepherd in the Person of Jesus.

David wrote, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” Jesus claimed, “I Am the good Shepherd…” The Bible calls Jesus the Great Shepherd of the sheep, while Peter refers to Him as the Chief Shepherd.

This Shepherd, this Jesus of ours, laid down His life for His sheep – His sheep am I. If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep – rather count your many blessings, name them one by one…

A shepherd knows His sheep – the sheep know their Shepherd.