Have you ever tried rounding up sheep? 

It can be a very humorous, if not downright frustrating, experience.  

 I remember being invited by my school Zenon to his farm near the foothills of the Southern Alps in Canterbury, South New Zealand.  It was a picturesque setting, framed by snowy peaks, and a beautiful sunny afternoon.  Our goal was to get all of the sheep into a side pen so that they could be dowsed in an insecticide which would help them avoid getting pests in their wool.  It was all for their benefit.

 Do you think that they wanted to go in that pen?  Absolutely not!  They were scared stiff of what might happen to them in the pen.  So they scattered around the field.  Round up, scatter.  Round up, scatter.  We did finally get most of them in the pen.  As the saying goes, they do follow each other like sheep.  However, there were three sheep in particular that had heads of their own.  We chased them round and round the field, and they would not go in.  They seemed to have boundless amongst of energy.  We finally ran out of energy and puff, and stopped to think of how we could outsmart them to go in the pen.  Outsmart them?!  They were only sheep, remember, and we were specimens of the most intelligent species on the planet.  And how long had we been chasing them round the field for?

 Sheep—downright infuriating sometimes!

 When God thinks about us, what is one of the best analogies that He uses?  “I am the good shepherd,” Jesus says, “I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

 Sheep?  Are we like sheep?  With vivid clarity, David sang, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.”  With the same spiritual insight, Peter wrote, “For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

 And once we have returned home to our Heavenly Father and become leaders in His missional movement, Jesus is calling us to take care of His sheep.  “Feed My lambs,” He says.  “Tend My sheep.”

 Paul recognised that call and responsibility too.  He told the elders of the church in Ephesus:

 “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Acts 20:28-30

 “If ministers of the gospel were to bear constantly in mind the fact that they are dealing with the purchase of the blood of Christ, they would have a deeper sense of the importance of their work. They are to take heed to themselves and to their flock. Their own example is to illustrate and enforce their instructions. As teachers of the way of life they should give no occasion for the truth to be evil spoken of. As representatives of Christ they are to maintain the honour of His name. By their devotion, their purity of life, their godly conversation, they are to prove themselves worthy of their high calling.

“Paul trembled for the church as, looking into the future, he saw the attacks which she must suffer from both external and internal foes. With solemn earnestness he bade his brethren guard vigilantly their sacred trusts.” AA pp394,395

Do you realise that the Holy Spirit has made you under-shepherds of Jesus’ flock?
Do you realise that Jesus bought His church, your local church, with His own blood?
Do you realise that fierce wolves will come in amongst the flock, not sparing His defenceless sheep?

 This bunch of dirty, unruly, headstrong sheep!  “Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard. It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts.” AA p12

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
 he will gather the lambs in his arms;
 he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

 Feed His lambs.

 The book of Acts is drenched with the Holy Spirit.  Reading it is like taking time to play out in the tropical rain!  Read the full stories for today in:

 Acts 20 NLT
Acts of the Apostles “Paul’s Last Journey to Jerusalem”

 Invite your friends to join this journey with you!  You can follow this journey on Facebook too.