that she wanted it put out of its suffering and to forego any further mistreatment. Her husband was at work, and neither she, her son, nor a neighbor, could summon enough courage to kill the animal and she wanted to know if I could and would. As we reached the sheep pen, the deacon’s wife said the sheep had been doing fine and got along with the rest of the flock; they ate together, slept together, ran in the same pasture and grazed to gether with no trouble at all until the sheep in question was taken ill. Then it seemed the ire and wrath of the rest of the flock turned against it. As it weakened, they would run at it, butt it, knock it down and trample on it as it lay helpless. Sure enough, as we entered the pen, the sick sheep was on the ground struggling to rise, but unable to do so. The son with a stick was keeping the rest of the flock back from additional abuse of the stricken creature. As I drove back home, I thought of some rea sons why our Lord likened His people to sheep. I thought of the Shepherd’s Psalm and tha t sheep, being poor swimmers, are afraid of swift moving water. So the shepherd dams up the stream to make a pool of “still water” (Psa. 23:2). Likewise, as our fears and doubts arise, the Lord comes and “stills” the tempest so our hearts may trust Him even more. As sheep must graze in the valley of green grass, surrounded by beast-infested forest where death lurks on every hand, they must trust the shepherd to use the “rod and staff” to drive away the wolf, bear, or other ravenous beasts that would kill and devour. Even so, with God’s people, as we are led through the “valley of the shadow of death” (Psa. 23:4), we too are defenseless against the devil as he comes to kill and devour. It is when we trust our safety to the Lord Jesus in these experiences that His “rod and staff” com fort us” as well. Another way in which sheep and God’s people are alike is revealed in the way the rest of that flock treated the one sick sheep. Let people come and join the church and all will sing, fellowship, worship, and serve God together. But let one of them fail in his spiritual health or fall short of what the rest think he should be or do, fa r too often the entire group will turn against that one. They heap verbal attacks upon him, trample feel ings underfoot and add insult to injury, making the brother who stumbled to feel outcast, with but few, if any, seeking to aid or help. Nor is this attitude limited to the pew alone. I t has also made its way into the ministry. A preacher may be a faithful preacher of the Word, zealous in winning the lost, and his ministry meet with much success, and he may be praised by the “preacher brethren.” But let him slip at just one point, instead of the rest rallying to his aid in prayer and lifting him up, many of the rest of the preachers may attack, castigate, and all but
Lasater W
O
o
“ ^ a n you shoot A s h e e p ” ? The evident concern of the voice arrested my attention more than the words of the question. “I suppose so. What’s the problem” ? I said, as I turned to see the wife of a deacon standing be hind me. To answer the question I had asked, as well as others forming in my mind as to the reason anyone would want a sheep of prize-winning stock killed, she said the sheep was sick and unable to get up. The rest of the flock were mistreating it so
THE KING'S BUSINESS
24
Made with FlippingBook HTML5