We had our ewes sheared off for the summer a few days ago.
Our shearer is a great guy. He raises a few sheep for his kids to show,
and is involved with the breed association; but mainly he just loves to shear.
Fine by me---now a mother of two (and with far less efficient equipment) I will
gladly let someone else do the honors. He told me this past weekend his record
for shearing one completely out was 37 seconds! Yup, I'd say he qualified. Of
course when he comes and shears for us, we end up talking about the next
greatest buck out there, or his new method of using CIDR's for Thanksgiving
lambs----and we take WAY more time than 37 seconds per ewe. But that's
okay. He's still far more efficient than myself. 
So, how much do you know about sheep? Well, having raised them
since I was 15, I feel that I have been around them enough to have a pretty
good perception of how a sheep acts. If I had to sum them up, taking one word
to describe them, "dumb" would be my word of choice.
They are stubborn, they are ignorant, they are anything but smart.
While a typical mother (of any animal specie) will stand and protect their
young---- a mother ewe will turn and run at the first sight danger (or slight
leaf blowing in the breeze), usually trampling their lambs in the process. Dig
a hole....if a sheep falls in, what will it do? Lay down and die. Yup. It says,
"Well, it's been a nice life, but this 3 foot deep hole is insurmountable,
so I give up." Even Christ eludes to this fact in Matthew 12:11! Yup, God is well aware sheep and holes don't mix!
“If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?"
Sheep are followers, hence the term 'flocking'. They have a
flocking instinct which in many ways make them easier to handle if you know how
to work them as a group. They go wherever the sheep in front of them goes. And
where does the sheep in front go? Well.....usually where the sheep in the back
goes (or at least to familiar territory-- they don't go far)!. Rarely do
you ever get a sheep that goes out on its own. If there is one alone by
choice you can almost bet it is either in labor, or is very ill.
They hate water. If there is half an inch of water separating them
from the only food source available, unless the whole flock decides to make
huge leap over the stream, they will sit there and starve. People ask me,
"But the sheep that you've worked with for years--the ones that know you,
don't they come up to you in the barn or at the fence line?" No. They run
away. Why? They are sheep. Yes, they absolutely know me. Yes, they know
I'm the one that feeds them, takes care of them, and has worked with them. What
do they do? They still run away. Sometimes can I get them to approach me if I
clank a bucket and feed scoop together, as curiosity gets the best
of them. Otherwise they follow the flock---which is away from me, their
shepherd. Away from their caretaker, their source of shelter, their provider
for everything they have. The one that treats them and heals them when they are
ill, the one who makes sure they are accounted for. They run the opposite
direction.
Now. What does God say about us in regards to sheep? After
this humbling look at their behavior, you may not want to know! God calls US
sheep! Yes! Are we really that dumb, ignorant, stubborn? Yes. In fact I think
we give ourselves a lot more credit for "knowing" all we claim we
know and have figured out about this life.
In Ezekiel 34:31 God addresses us specifically as sheep. He puts us in our place (rightfully so) reminding us that He is the sovereign Lord, and we are but lowly sheep.
"You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord."
After what you just read about sheep, doesn't that humble you a bit? It does me! However in Ezekiel 34:11-12 Christ reminds us that although we are sheep, and he is our shepherd, he looks after, and cares for his flock.
"I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness."
So if we have given ourselves to Christ, He will never leave us! How amazingly comforting is that notion! Though we are ignorant beyond all recollection, and continue to stray away from him, we are the flock under his care.In fact, there are so many verses relating us to sheep I would have to put half the Bible in here to quote them all. Below are a few more of my choice verses related to this topic.
Isaiah 53:6
"We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him, the iniquity of us all"
Psalm 119:176
"I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant for I have not forgotten your commands."Psalm 100:2-4
"Worship the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."
Zechariah 10:2
"The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd."
John 10:1-3
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
John 10:7
"Therefore Jesus said again, Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep."
John 10:9
"I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved."
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