Lessons from a Sheep Dog on Christ as Our Shepherd

This past summer I had the opportunity to go to Wyoming for a missions trip with a group from my church. While there we decided to visit the Bighorn Mountains.

About halfway up the mountain, we pulled over to the side of the road to look for wildlife. We barely had time to park when a giant livestock guardian dog appeared. It barked at us and tried to bite our tires.

We noticed a flock of sheep some distance back, but had not considered the possibility that there might have been a dog lurking somewhere amongst them, ready to attack anything that got too close. He crested the hill and charged at us. He was determined to protect his sheep at any cost.

Needless to say, we did not get out of the van. To appease the dog, we quickly departed and went about the rest of the day without any incidents.

This experience reminds me of Matthew 18:12–14. Just like the dog was fiercely protective of the sheep, Christ is protective of us. We matter to Him.

In verse 12 of this passage, we find that one of the shepherd’s sheep wanders off. The shepherd has a choice. While he could stay where he is and completely forget about the one sheep, the shepherd’s care for that sheep leads him in search of it.

Though Jesus doesn’t elaborate on how the shepherd managed to find the sheep, in verse 13 we find that he did succeed in his attempt. He found the sheep and was filled with great joy.

The determination of the shepherd in these verses is a determination driven by love. We find that although he could have been aggravated or even angry that his sheep wandered off, he is overjoyed. He eagerly welcomes the sheep and carries it home.

The parable is brought to a close in verse 14 when upon the shepherd’s return, Jesus states that the shepherd is not willing that any of his sheep would die.

In the parable, the shepherd represents Jesus and the sheep represent us. Like the sheep, we constantly disobey God and run away from His holiness. When we don’t like the plans He has made for us, we tend to ignore Him and go about our lives. What we fail to see is that just like the sheep in the parable wanders and leaves the shepherd, we also wander.

We choose, through sin, to separate ourselves from our Holy God. Why, after we have treated Him with such disrespect and without love, does it say that He turns around and comes searching for us?

We are often tempted to think that since we made a mistake, if God is coming after us, it must only be to punish us for doing wrong. This is easy to believe because, apart from Christ, it is exactly what we deserve.

However, Christ our Shepherd, doesn’t look at us this way at all. Instead of leaving us to the doom of eternal death in hell, Christ decided to leave His position in heaven with the Father to bring us salvation.

Jesus came and lived here on earth with mankind and did not sin. The pureness in which He lived life here meant He was able to die for us on the cross and pay our debts to the Father for the sin we committed. He then came back to life on the third day that He may reign forever over us.

Jesus wants us to put our faith in Him. He wants us to seek after His forgiveness just as He seeks after us, so that He may give us the gift of eternal life that He offers through His sacrifice for us on the cross. This is how important we are to God. This is how much He loves us — enough to pursue us, redeem us, die for us, and to care for us.

Jesus is our faithful Lord. He always wants what is best for us, which is to love and obey Him. He is constantly seeking to lead us in the right way. And just like the shepherd He wants to protect us.

So as Christians, let us seek to follow Christ with all of our hearts and to give Him all the glory for loving us in this way.