Several months ago, my sheep developed a bad habit. To give a little background, our sheep used stay in a traditional pasture. One day after looking at the overgrazed area, I decided to use my shepherding skills and show the sheep where the best foraging opportunities were.
I led the sheep through open fields of wild flowers, down into cool hidden meadows, and along the banks of clear water streams that even the lambs could drink from. If there is such a thing as “sheep heaven”, this was it! Initially this plan worked perfectly. The sheep grazed all day, and in the evening they would walk back to their pasture to sleep.
But one day, the sheep decided to turn left instead of right and they walked 1/2 mile in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, they ended up in a potentially deadly location. Our commodities shed where we store loose feed. Sheep will eat themselves to death (literally) if they have free access to grain, so we did everything possible to redirect them, (including shooting a loud gun), but day after day, they came back. It appeared that this bad habit was not going away. With no other choice, we decided to put them back into their pasture.
Several months went by, and I decided to give them another chance. With a feed bucket in hand, I opened the gate. The sheep ran and bucked behind me, so happy to be free again. As soon as we reached our destination by the lake, they began happily eating, so I slipped away quietly.
45 minutes. 45 minutes is how long it took. I happened to look up just in time to see of the sheep heading up the path to the commodities shelter.
BUT WHY THOUGH!?
Why would they leave such a perfect place, only to go back to the one place on the farm that is dangerous, in fact forbidden?
No sooner had the question popped into my mind, the Holy Spirit let me know quickly that I often return to my old, bad habits as well. How many times have I disappointed my Shepherd by doing (or saying) something that I know I shouldn’t? How many times have I missed blessings because I failed to walk in my Shepherd’s will?
My prayer today is that our old habits will not pull us away from the will of our Shepherd.
1 thought on “Old Habits”
Wonderful analogy Ms. April. I always enjoy the lessons you are learning at your Cape Fear Farm my friend. Isn’t it wonderful how God uses all of His creation to teach us; and how all He created points back to Him, be that plant, nature, animal, or mankind? Well done writer!