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What is it like to raise animals? I am a town kid, I never grew up on the farm where I had to tend animals everyday. Feed them, water them, clean the stalls or pens… it is a way of life that I am familiar only because of the stories my wife and others have told me.

So what do you think it is like to be a shepherd?

Jesus uses shepherd imagery a lot, but it can get lost on us as Americans, and as non-farmers even. Let’s look at another example. Psalm 23, this often gets used at funerals but it is about as far from a funeral passage as you can get. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.”

What comes to mind when you think about green pastures? Many of us probably think about the lush green pastures we see. What about still waters? Does this bring up images of a quiet pond or lake?

To really understand the imagery I wish we could all hike the desert for even just 4 days, let alone be in the desert 40 years like the Israelites. But we can’t so we will have to try to imagine what it is like. For staters, This is a shepherd, (likely female, as most shepherds were girls), on top of the hill, leading her sheep on these paths that they have used for hundreds of years.

A shepherd leading her sheep by the sound of her voice

What do you not see? What we don’t see are lush, pastures of knee deep grass where livestock can eat all they want without moving or bubbling springs and creeks. Our American idea of rolling pastures with a winding creek is not where you pasture sheep in Israel.

Then there are things to know about sheep. Sheep know their shepherds voice and typically respond only to the shepherds voice, he (or she) leads with their voice. Every once in a while in the news in Israel you’ll hear of a tragedy where a shepherd dies but hasn’t taught the sheep to listen to any other shepherd so the flock perishes. But there is a good side to this.

The good part is that you can put multiple flocks in the same pen but only your sheep will listen and follow your voice commands. How cool is that concept? It all comes down to the voice… the sheep know their shepherds voice and they trust the shepherd, this is so important!

There is another thing to note from the pic. Where’s the green pastures?

In Israel you pasture the sheep in the desert.. there is enough moisture in the air when the winds blow in from the sea, that allow small tufts of grassy twigs to grow. And it may be a mouthful or two in this spot, then you move to the next spot a few feet away for another mouthful or two. Basically, each little tuft of grass is just enough.

And the sheep trust the shepherd to lead them to the next spot where it is just enough. After it rains you will find pools of still, muddy water until it dries up, waiting on the next rain. The shepherds know where and how to find the water. All of it is placing trust in the shepherd.

Contrast that idea with America’s idea of pasture, what are some of the big differences?

Trust the voice of the shepherd, he will give you what you need.

John 10

1-5

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

11-18

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

27-29

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

How do we know the voice of Jesus? Start by saying yes, I will follow. Look for those who seek to model the characteristics of Jesus. Read Matthew Mark Luke and John, find out who Jesus is Trust in him, learn when things are just enough.

Trust he will lead through the desert… we all walk through deserts in our life, he will lead us through.