This time of year as our sheep shed their winter fleeces, they look….well…shabby. The first spring that we had sheep, I was certain the whole flock would die, because they looked terrible! But low and behold, as the old fleeces fell away, their sleek, new coats were exposed, and the same sheep that had just been tattered and shabby, became beautiful and healthy looking, seemingly overnight.
While observing the various stages of fleece loss in the different individuals the other evening, it reminded me of the analogy of taking off the “old man”, and putting on the “new man”, that Paul referenced in his letter to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:20-24 (NKJV)
20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
Oh if only I could be more like these sheep! Once their old fleece is on the ground, they cannot pick it back up and put it on again. How many times have I picked up my old, shabby garments and put them back on? The answer is way more often than I care to admit.
When we revert back to our fleshly ways and attitudes, we too look shabby, spiritually shabby, and we can easily blend in with ugliness of the World around us. My prayer for all of us is that we can remain spiritually healthy regardless of our circumstances. Like these sheep, I hope that with the Lord’s help, we will find it impossible, to pick up our old, tattered fleshly fleeces again.
