The Lord Is My Shepherd - Why Sheep?

Growing up I had two of my own sheep. Their names we Ebony and Amiga. I looked after them, took them for walks, groomed them, fed them, bathed them, and sheared them.  Recently though, I've realized more and more how much I've learned from these animals.  

Scripture is full of references to sheep and Shepherds, but often we misinterpreted or misunderstand the meaning of the text when we don't fully get the context. 

Here's a few facts about sheep that you will hopefully find helpful.

1) sheep travel in herds - community is so important to these animals as they don't have particularly powerful defence mechanisms.  

2) sheep don't know what the Shepherd does - "the valley of the shadow of death" is actually something we need to embrace and walk through.  The Shepherd knows that the current pasture doesn't have the grass or water supply needed to sustain the sheep so He takes them through the valley knowing that on the other side there is greener grass and plenty of water.

3) sheep need to stay close to the Shepherd - if something causes a sheep to fall into its back, it has no way of getting back up and in a short amount of time can drown in its own saliva.  The Shepherd looks out for its sheep and when one is hurt or sick He cares for it until it is well.  

Sheep are just one of the many things we misunderstand from Scripture.  If we can get the context and understand more about the background of analogies and metaphors it can become easier to comprehend the message and purpose we can apply to our lives.  

Try researching vineyards or pottery or beekeeping, but for now here are a few things that will hopefully help you understand Why Sheep.