by Colleen Barnes

Created on: June 25, 2009   Last Updated: June 27, 2009

John 10:14

I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

So is Jesus saying we have to be like sheep? I don't know about you but I don't fancy living on a diet of grass all my life and chewing the cud. Out of all the animals if I were to choose one or to compare myself with any I probably wouldn't choose a sheep that would probably be quite low on my list. To be honest I find them quite uninteresting, unintelligent and ugly. So the fact that Jesus compares us to sheep doesn't exactly thrill me but He does and He does for many reasons that are not only quite interesting but also very revealing.

To be honest I don't really know that much about sheep except that they taste good with a bit of curry powder and rice but I have found out a few things I didn't know before:

Sheep have good hearing and are sensitive to noise

Sheep have excellent peripheral vision; they can see behind themselves without turning their heads

Sheep have an excellent sense of smell

Sheep have a natural inclination to follow a leader to new pastures

Sheep also have a tendency to congregate close to other members of the same flock

And sheep become highly stressed when separated from their flock

So it might not be as bad as I thought being compared to a sheep I don't know about you but I wouldn't mind being able to see behind me without having to turn my head! Might be useful that.

The examples Jesus used were very relevant to back then when stuff like that was more common, people instantly knew as Jesus spoke they would have a picture in their mind but today it is seen less and less and I think a lot of the meaning can be lost on us. If you mention sheep and shepherding most young people will look at you like your mad (like do they still do that) but I still believe this examples are relevant and that there is much we can gain, know and learn from them.

This idea of the sheep and the shepherd reveals the nature of our relationship to and with God we are reminded that we are creatures.

We are created and therefore we have a creator and that creator is God. We do not just exist or evolve but as creatures we depend upon our creator.

We see more of not only the nature of the relationship between God and man but also the nature of God. We are a flock but not just another sheep. This shepherd The good shepherd knows each sheep by name, so in the world we may just be a number, in church we may just be another believer but God knows us by

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