I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Saturday morning, the 30th of March, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We start in the Book of Psalms 119:176: 

“I have gone astray like a lost sheep;…” 

Then we go forward to the Book of Isaiah 53:6: 

“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” 

The last scripture is in 1 Peter 2:25: 

“For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

A sheep is the most defenceless of all animals. It needs more looking after than any other farm animal. A sheep is a follower, it is not a leader, it needs protection. Father God saw the plight of us, His creation, and He sent down from Heaven, the best Shepherd ever, His own Son, Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd. He sent Him down to help us, to guide us, to lead us and to protect us. You see, sheep simply follow sheep (if one goes over the cliff edge, it is the whole flock that will follow over the cliff’s edge), but the Good Shepherd leads His sheep from the front. He does not chase them from behind. 

In the old days, the sheep enclosure, the crawl, never had a gate because the shepherd slept across the entrance at night. Any wild animal that wanted to attack the sheep had to pass the shepherd first. 

Jesus died for you and me. We remember it at this time of year so that we can live, be protected, be led, and most of all, be loved. Let us not forget today the great price that the Great Shepherd paid for you and me.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.