Good Shepherd

I play Farmville on Facebook. They recently added an “English Countryside” farm so I also started an English farm. You can travel between your farms and work both of them. I don’t know why I find it to be so much fun, but I do. There is enough variety to keep me interested, and I have a LOT of neighbours, which makes it easier to complete different stages and projects. I know Farmville isn’t for everyone, but there are plenty of us who really do enjoy it.

On the English farm, one is able to breed sheep. There are sheep of differing colours and patterns, and it is interesting to breed them to see what they produce. Eventually, they say they will provide a family tree of the lambs, but that feature hasn’t been added yet. I haven’t done enough breeding to see any real patterns to the outcome, so whatever I get is a surprise. I certainly have not been able to predict what I will get, except when breeding an identical ewe and ram.

Something caught my eye today as I raised a lamb to adulthood that a friend had given to me. “Mumblers's baby lamb, Ewey, is now an adult! Mumbler has been a good shepherd and is sharing some leftover baby bottles!” I have been a good shepherd? Hmmm… well I think you might know where I’m going with this one.

About 6 or 7 years ago, I taught Vacation Bible School (VBS) at our church. I’ve always liked the Biblical picture of Christians as sheep and Jesus as our Good Shepherd. And that was the theme for VBS that particular year. There were two things that stood out in my mind in preparing to teach those lessons. One: in the Middle East, sheep are not “herded” by the shepherd – only by the butcher! The shepherd talks to their sheep, so the sheep follow where the shepherd takes them as (s)he calls them along the way. Oh, and the shepherds name their sheep. The sheep get used to that name. Two: the “rod and staff” in Psalm 23 are for different things than most people think – if we think about them at all.

I had a Grade 6 class of all boys except for one girl, so I wasn’t sure how my object lessons would go over. At the dollar store, I bought enough ceramic sheep (covered in wool) for each child. I gave it to them the first day and said they could name them, but they had to take care of them. Since they were ceramic, they had to be careful with them. Wow! Those boys were so tender with their sheep! There was no damage to any of them by the end of the week! I still have mine sitting in front of my computer monitor – Sheepsy.

The second item I gave them was a “rod.” I had written in marker on them “Jesus protects us” which was the main theme of the VBS. Now, being Grade 6 boys, I had instructions for them before I gave them the rods – wooden dowelling, 15 inches by 1 inch in diameter. I said these rods were to represent how Jesus protects us. He never used the rod on the sheep, but on the enemies of the sheep. Therefore, since we are all sheep, we WILL NOT use them to beat one another. I had to remind them once in a while, but after a couple of days, they got it, and they didn’t hit anyone with them. The crook of the “staff” is to hook around the neck of an errant sheep to rescue them out of danger.

So, am I a good shepherd? On Farmville, all I did was feed the lamb, and I named it. Maybe by virtual standards, this is being a good shepherd, but it is nowhere near the standards Jesus set for us.

Until next time, take good care of one another…