Returning To The Fold

Good morning on this breezy day! Maybe 'breezy' is a bit of an understatement. Often, when the wind is blowing through these parts at 0600, it will be much worse by 10. Jesus is the Good Shepherd; says so right in the Word. However, this Good Shepherd chose a flock of the most prone to wander and unruly sheep ever invented. All we like sheep have gone astray, and we do it in thought and deed almost daily. We can be easily led astray by a little temptation, and almost as easily by the attack of the thorns. Even in the herd with our shepherd, we have a strong desire to look around at the world outside.

I may use figurative language, but I also know from my experience that this holds true for me. Returning to the sheep fold is not easy. Sometimes, like the prodigal, I must walk from a far country to return to my Father and the Good Shepherd. Of course, unlike the prodigal, I don't walk that journey alone. The Good Shepherd has traveled far at times to fetch me back to the fold. The mind likes to go on intellectual explorations in strange places. The body likes to whine and complain (and grow older), and the senses will turn the head at the slightest provocation. All me like the proverbial sheep goes astray fairly often.

Praise God for our Good Shepherd. Returning to the fold is not a bitter experience; that's what happens out in the lost fields. No, returning is a joyous time of reunion with my fellow sheeps. We don't tend to say, "Where have you been?" We tend more to the "Welcome back!" It may seem at times that I'm the only one prone to wander off, but that just isn't true. Our Shepherd knows where we've been, and He is not one to accuse; that comes from the other side, 'ol darkside devil and his gang.

Praise the Lord for the returning!
Bucky