We all, like sheep, have gone astray.
Isaiah 53:6 NIV
“Are sheep really dumb as dirt?” asked Melissa, setting her books on the table. “A few years ago, before a trip to Iceland, I might have said that sheep were dumber than dirt,” I replied. Melissa looked at me carefully; her face a question mark – a typical nonverbal gesture when waiting for a story without actually asking for it. I complied.
“My friend Unnur and I embarked on a two-day driving trip to see, among other attractions, the midnight sun, one of the largest glaciers in Europe, and the blue lagoon. Unnur was driving; I was keeping an eagle eye out for erratic sheep. Quite regularly as we moved along, a sheep or two or three would stop eating grass along the side of the road, glance toward our approaching vehicle, and suddenly bolt into the middle of the road – right in front of the car, no less! It took continual vigilance plus expert driving to miss hitting them.”
Melissa laughed. “You’re right. Sheep are dumber than dirt!”
“After brunch on the first day,” I continued, “we turned onto Highway 1, or so we thought. Within minutes, however, the paved two-lane road morphed into a one-lane dirt track that wound up and down hills, around rock formations, beside rivers swollen from a myriad of waterfalls, and over mountains – with no place to turn around. Driving soon became more dangerous and frightening as clouds descended, enveloping us in thick mist barely illuminated by the car’s fog lamps. Unnur drove slowly. ‘We both prayed. Eventually, twenty-three exhausting kilometers later, we connected with the real Highway 1. Turned out we had gotten lost on a ‘shortcut’ – on a road that was more suited to four-wheel-drive vehicles than to a sedan!”
Melissa sighed with eyes like saucers. “Well, you got back safely!”
“Yes,” I replied. “But since the Scriptures compare humans to sheep, I’m rather loathe to trumpet that sheep are as dumb as dirt. Especially since ‘we all, like sheep, have gone astray.’”
Several moments of silence passed. A long time for Melissa. Finally, she nodded and said, “I can just picture that shortcut. This will make a great story for show-and-tell tomorrow. Good thing God cares for sheep and people!”
Good thing, indeed. I am most grateful to have a Shepherd (Psalm 23:1).
Covered and Carried, Copyright ©2021 Pacific Press Publishing Association
Arlene R. Taylor recently retired from health care after decades of working with Adventist Health Facilites. She lives in the Napa Valley of Northern California. USA.