When Fleece Starts Flying

By David A. Sargent     In 2005, townspeople in Gevas, Turkey, watched in horror as one sheep jumped to its death, and then 1,500 others followed over the same cliff.     When the villagers, whose livelihoods depended on the flock, reached the bottom of the mountain, they found a billowy white pile of death. Some 450 sheep were lost, but amazingly 1,000 survived. As the pile grew, the dead bodies cushioned the fall of other sheep.     How did this happen? The shepherds responsible for protecting the flock had left the sheep on the mountain to eat breakfast, and then the fleeces started to fly. *     We are a lot like sheep.     We tend to be followers.  So, we must be very careful as to whom we follow.  “If the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14).  We need to ask ourselves: “What is the destination of the person or people that I am following?”  Consider Matthew 7:13-14 as you consider this question.     We make bad decisions.  Our selfish search for “greener pastures” can lead to trouble and even death.     We need a shepherd.  We need a caring shepherd to guide us, to lead us in the right direction.     Jesus looked at a crowd of people.  Notice what He observed: “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).     Here’s the Good News: God loves sheep.  God loves people.  Even though we make such foolish, fatal decisions, He still loves us and desires to save us.     Some 700 years before Jesus came into this world, Isaiah made a prophecy about what He would do for us: “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).     This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we can be saved and receive eternal life (1 Peter 2:24).  Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, gave His life for us so that we might live (John 10:11).     God will save and add to His eternal fold those “sheep” (people) who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).     Before “the fleece starts flying,” look to the Good Shepherd.  Listen to Him and follow Him.  He will lead you to safe, green, eternal pastures.  The Good Shepherd says, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

- David A. Sargent, minister for the Church of Christ at Creekwood in Mobile, Alabama, is also the editor of an electronic devotional entitled "Living Water." To learn more about this excellent resource contact David via their website: http://www.creekwoodcc.org * From “Shepherds” as cited in www.sermonillustrations.co.uk which also references “450 Turkish Sheep Leap to Their Deaths” by the Associated Press in www.foxnews.com.