Four facts about sheep

The Bible refers to us as sheep so many times...so I went digging for diamonds...here are 4 random facts:

Sheep have good hearing – most likely why Jesus said: “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice. I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,” *

So what go is it not to know or hear God’s voice. We must all desire and train ourselves to know and hear God’s voice. Why rely on 2nd-hand information when God can speak to you directly? By God’s grace, we’ll talk some more about hearing God – I know this is one area a lot of us struggle especially when it’s not the Christian brother you were “hoping for” that comes to propose to you. Did I just strike a chord? Well, more on that later...

Sheep possess excellent peripheral vision**; with visual fields of approximately 270° to 320°, sheep can see behind themselves without turning their heads; however, sheep have poor depth perception. You know how this relates to us Christians? First, we have an all-seeing God*** so we have "excellent all-round vision"; secondly, we hear His voice behind us****…which means, He’s got our backs covered – Hallelujah for that!!
Sheep have a tendency to move out of the dark and into well-lit areas. This is as explicit as it gets. The Bible is clear that those who don’t want others to know what they are doing, prefer the dark. God has called us from darkness into light and that is where we must live daily******. In John 8:12, Jesus said

"I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life."*******

Walk and live in the light of God’s word…you’re always safe there.

Sheep prefer to move uphill when disturbed. I found this rather interesting then I began to wonder if that was why Jesus went to the mountain to pray. As usual, I looked into my Life Handbook…

In Matthew 14: 22-30, after feeding the 5,000+ people, Jesus asked His disciples to go ahead of Him to the other side. While He was praying, His disciples were in a storm. When He was done praying, He walked on water.

Let’s camp here for a moment: Not only did Jesus walk on water, Peter did too when he stepped out in faith and for as long as he looked up to Jesus.

Back to the topic…if you read on in that chapter and the next, you’ll realise that because Jesus knew what was ahead of Him “on the other side”, he took time out to pray. Jesus also went to the mountain before choosing His disciples (Luke 6: 12-16). We don’t know what is ahead of us and I’m sure that whatever it is will require us making decisions…the “mountain” is definitely the place to find out.

Now, don’t go buying or renting mountain climbing gear…just to go to the mountain to pray. Going to the mountain is symbolic of taking time out of your regular (possibly busy) schedule and being alone with God -getting directions for your life (& maybe for those in your “care”/sphere of influence); that’s what Moses did in the Old Testament (Exodus 24:18) and when he came back…he’d been “polished” by God such that his face shone with God’s glory.

The first 3 facts are easily catered for once we learn to “go to the mountain”...in fact, He promises to feed us there.

Ezekiel 34: 11-16: For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I Myself, will search for My sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his sheep in the day that he is among his flock that are scattered, so will I seek out My sheep; and I will rescue them out of all places where they have been scattered in the day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them to their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie down in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed My sheep and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost and bring back that which has strayed, and I will bandage the hurt and the crippled and will strengthen the weak and the sick, but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hardhearted and perverse]; I will feed them with judgment and punishment.

I choose to remain a sheep...what about you? If you're not one already, it's as easy as ABC to become one:
Accept that you are a sinner and cannot save yourself
Believe in the Lord Jesus and turn your life over to Him
Commit yourself to learning more about Jesus. You can start by reading the Bible - the book of John is a good place to start.
Once you do this, please look for and start attending a Bible-believing church in your area. You can also send an email to Beryl & I: sapphireandberyl@gmail.com. We'd be delighted to read from you.

God bless us all.

References:
Source of facts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_sheep
* See John 10: 3 – 5 & 10 (New Living Translation)
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_vision
*** See 2 Chronicles 16:9
**** See Isaiah 40:21: Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “ This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. (NKJV)
*****See 1 Peter 2:9; Philippians 2:15; Ephesians 5:8; 1 Corinthians 5:5; John 12:35
*******Amplified Bible