Follow like a Sheep

FOLLOW

This week, I've been dwelling on the thought that we are the sheep of His pasture. I read a devotional by Barry Adams who said, "Little lambs can't protect themselves, they can't provide for themselves, they can't manage the cares of daily life. All they can do is live a life close to their shepherd."

So often I want to improve my life by doing this or that, but really the smartest thing I can do is stay near Him.

When I was a kid, the song, "I have decided to follow Jesus," was very popular. We sang it all the time at church meetings, but really what does following Jesus mean?  Following Jesus meant living  "What Would Jesus Do," all the time. Or so I thought.

Now I'm thinking following Jesus means to stay near Him all the time.  After all if you are near Him, close to Him, you'd 
have a better chance at walking the path He has set for your life. You'd go where you were supposed to, because you were attached to Him at the hip, so to speak. 

You couldn't go wrong!

STOP

May I share one additional thought?  Staying near the Shepherd kind of makes me think of my grandbabies. They like to be in the same room as their mama.  They can be all involved in playing just fine without her - as long as she is in the same room.  All she has to do is walk out, and they start crawling out of the room looking for her.

Can't you just see a little sheep noticing that all of a sudden the Shepherd is out of sight?  It would start bleating and rushing blindly along the easiest path it could take in search of its Shepherd. That easy path might lead to disaster ...

Just like the babies, and the sheep, we would do well to stick as close as we can to the Shepherd. We like to think we are "all that," grown-up, mature and capable but really we just need to be near Him.

5 Minute Friday is now hosted by Kate at the blog "heading home." This is meant to be a free write, which means: no editing, no over-thinking, no worrying about perfect grammar or punctuation. 

Just write.

Also, the most important rule is that you visit the blog of the person who linked up before you and leave some encouragement.  That’s the most fun of all, and the heart of this community.