A few years ago, my husband brought home our first flock of 60 mixed breed sheep. At the time, I knew nothing about sheep, but I quickly fell in love with these inquisitive creatures. Although I had never thought of myself as a shepherd, the sheep quickly appointed me as such, and they ran to meet the lady who brought them loose corn to eat every day.
All of the sheep loved the corn, except for one shy, tan-colored weanling. Every day he ran to a pile but he would push the corn around with his nose like a child pushing green beans around their plate. “You are a picky eater little boy!” I said as I watched him trot back over and start eating grass while the others finished their corn.
One morning when I went to get the feed, my husband said “I used the rest of the corn to make cow feed, so feed the sheep this cornmeal.” As I poured little piles of cornmeal around, the sheep looked at me like I had lost my mind. “What is this?”I could almost hear them saying. A few were picking at the meal, others were just staring at it, and some just walked off and started eating grass. “Just try it girls! It’s different, but you will love it. I promise!”
As I turned around was, I was suprised to see that the tan-colored lamb was devouring the cornmeal. Until that day, I had never seen him actually eating, so I never realized that his bottom jaw was malformed. In order for this little fella to eat, his bottom jaw had to slightly dislocate, and then he had to use it like a shovel, and scoop the meal up. He was not able to chew normally, but he was trying. No wonder the poor thing didnt eat the hard, loose corn. He couldn’t chew it up!
As I watched this little one eagerly devouring his breakfast, I thought about the following scripture:
Philippians 4:19
And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Thank you Lord for allowing us (unknowingly) to provide the right food for this little one!
I also thought about what Jesus told Peter.
John 21:17 (NKJV)
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
Are we as Christians following the command that Jesus gave? Are we feeding His sheep? If so are we feeding them what they need to grow spiritually? If we are feeding them anything but the true, living, Word of God, they will be like the lamb who received no benefit at all from the corn, but once his shepherd provided him the right “food”, he began to grow and prosper.
So I challenge each of us today….. let’s all go out and feed our Shepherd’s sheep. And let’s make sure that we feed them the true Word of God (even if they look at you funny) 😉.