We all like sheep...

Isaiah 53:6 "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Psalm 23- "The Lord if my shepherd, I shall not want...

Over the years I've heard both those passages a zillion times. I've always liked them. The idea of God as our shepherd has rung true for me. We have a God who will protect us and care for our needs, for that I am thankful. But to be honest, I never really got the full extent of the shepherd analogy. I'd never taken care of animals or really seen shepherds at work. Living in Maasai land I now have a new appreciation for these verses. Everyone has animals. Lots of them. But often times the animals are allowed to go as they please looking for food. Quite regularly (twice today), we have to herd out goats and cows that have made their way into our yard and are eating our trees and garden... When the shepherd isn't there to watch the animals, they can cause trouble, like in our garden, or get into big trouble. Like our neighbors who lost 20 sheep to hyenas.

But what struck me even more came through yesterday. A group of us were driving into Nairobi and I was sitting next to Elizabeth, one of the GAR staff. We came across a group of sheep along the road. We honked the horn and slowed down and most sheep stayed closeby (instead of just moving), but weren't really in the way of the car, so we started to speed up, but then multiple sheep ran across to the opposite side of the road, forcing us to slam on the brakes. Sheep are really stupid. That's when Eliza said, "You know, the Bible says, we all are like sheep." And it struck me. How true. We are just as foolish as those sheep. We really do need a shepherd. How often do we run in front of the car to follow our friends on the other side, instead of waiting 5 seconds until after the car passes or just staying out of the way altogether? We too lack the foresight and ability to recognize what's best for ourselves. We make a lot of foolish choices. We are those sheep and we need our Good Shepherd.