PRAYER PROMPT ••• If my mother would have let me, I would have had a pet lamb when I was a child.
Never mind that we lived in the suburbs and a lamb would grow into a 300-400 pound full-sized sheep.
Or that the lamb, as it grew, would likely not want to be cuddled as I imagined (picture a blonde haired girl-lamb equivalent of Looney Tunes’ infamous “I will love him, and squeeze him, and pet him, and call him George.”)
I’m not sure why or when it began, but sheep have long been one of my favorite animals.
They have sweet faces and look cuddly, whether they would like it or not.
As you likely know, there are quite a few analogies in Scripture, often comparing us to sheep and Jesus as the Good Shepherd.
I love these.
Though I still know next to nothing about sheep-care, these passages paint a vivid picture in my mind.
Psalm 100:3 says, “Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”
And since we know from John 10:11 that a good Shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep, we can take great comfort in being His.
Because He did!
Jesus proved Himself as the Good Shepherd when He took our place on the cross.
Switching back to sheep, here’s a fun fact – sheep have excellent hearing.
In John 10:4, it says, “After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.”
It’s interesting that Jesus spoke of sheep knowing the voice of their shepherd, and yet the Bible tells us that God speaks in a still, small voice (or the NLT calls it a gentle whisper).
In 1 Kings 19:11-12, God spoke to Elijah.
Verse 12 says, “And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.”
And herein lies our questions for the day…
- Are you listening for His voice?
- Are you listening for His quiet whispers?
Admittedly, I don’t hear super-well, and I’m not always the best listener.
But the beauty of being His, hearing with our ears isn’t relevant.
We need to hear with our hearts.
Today, as you pray, thank Him for being your Good Shepherd.
Ask Him to help you hear Him and to follow wherever He leads.
3 Responses
Hearing with our hearts, well said. And then we obey what He has said.
Ahh… the origin of your love of sheep… I loved reading your story. And guess what I think? You share the Shepherd’s heart as well, dear Denise. You feed His sheep here through your posts! ❤️❤️
You are so sweet!