Sheep

So most people are sheep. This is evident with a little observation in your every day life. At UT in the Jester cafeteria there are a lot of soda fountains, at least six if I remember correctly. However, when people would come from the food lines they would always head towards the soda fountains closest to them… the ones with the long lines. At events people will do what everyone else is doing. If a sign at a baseball game says to cheer, everyone does. If it says to make a noise, everyone does it. Like I said, sheep.

Mixed in with the sheep there are a few other groups. There’s the black sheep. They just want to be off on their own doing their own thing. They don’t really care about being part of the crowd. Sometimes they want to be different on purpose, other times they just aren’t paying attention.

Next is the wolves. The wolves see opportunities in the sheep. They can get what they want from people by taking it or making the sheep see it as a good idea. Its easy to let yourself become a wolf if you are a leader and not a follower. Its not really a good thing though.

The next group is the sheep dogs. These guys serve as a sort of good wolf. They lead the sheep around to keep them safe. They also protect against the wolves. The important thing about them is who they follow. Collies are followers themselves, they follow the shepherd. The shepherd guides them in what to do with the sheep, and in the end they are all safer for it.

The shepherd knows what is best for all the groups. He keeps all the sheep safe, caring for all of them, even the black ones. He knows the wolves want the sheep, but he can’t let that happen. He even cares for the sheep dogs, who help guide his flock.

I rarely find myself being a sheep in life. I don’t like being told what to do. I sometimes do follow, but I tend to rebel more often. Too often in life I let myself go towards being a wolf. I know the good shepherd would much rather me be a sheep dog and lead the sheep.
I just have to get myself to realize that even though the sheep dog follows, he is doing so for his own good. He isn’t blindly following, he is choosing to follow the good shepherd and help the sheep.

Which are you in life? Do you follow the good shepherd or are you a wolf? Not everyone has to be a sheep dog and help lead, but being a wolf is definitely not in His plan.