With a Subtitle: Let the simple truths of God draw you out of the complexities of your life to follow Him like never before.

A brief Excerpt: Let the simple truths of God draw you out of the complexities of your life to follow Him like never before.

The Author is: Rich Holt

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Mark 6:34, ” And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. “

Background

There is no shortage of references in our culture of women and men to the animal kingdom. Women will be compared to cats, foxes, dogs, pigs, gazelles, peacocks and so on. Men can be pigs, snakes, dogs, roosters, wolves, ants, lions, bees and on and on. But when Jesus stepped off the boat and saw thousands of people gathered in the middle of nowhere, each one staring up at Him without knowing what to expect, He saw them as sheep without a shepherd. And the amazing truth is, even today with Jesus as our Great Shepherd, we still share many traits in a spiritual sense with those same simple sheep. Sheep are social and inclined to flock. And a sheep who is isolated, even one who is in the fold but bringing up the rear, is likely showing signs of illness. Sheep band together for protection, their only form of protection. It’s simple and seemingly helpless against the wolves of the world, but it keeps the flock thriving and enables it to grow. Did you say prayer? Healthy sheep are almost constantly hungry, and a loss of appetite is a certain indicator of a greater problem. Sheep also depend very heavily on their sight. What they cannot see can make them very uneasy. And what they are able to see, they view much more broadly than deep. They can perceive much, but their depth perception is lacking.

Application

And sheep are followers. If one of them moves, then the flock tends to follow. And so I say, if you are a sheep, with all the shortcomings and frailties that are uniquely yours, you can still move a flock. If you’ll be the one to move. Our Shepherd wants someone to get up and follow Him. Old, young, ordained or untrained, it really doesn’t matter. What the body of Christ needs is people who will look up at Him, not knowing exactly what to expect, but whose hearts are free to go wherever He wants to take them. A sheep has a lot of weaknesses, but it knows to follow its Shepherd. It will follow its Shepherd. Are you a sheep?

Charge

As we seek Him today, let the simple truths of God draw you out of the complexities of your life to follow Him like never before.