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The Shepherd

One day there was a shepherd, a good shepherd, a faithful shepherd and a true shepherd. He had two lambs and life was good, for they would walk together, the shepherd and the lambs, and the lambs would follow the shepherd and where the shepherd would sit the lambs would lay, and they would eat on sweet grass and things were good, and everyone was happy.

One day, the two lambs both bore sheep, and another lamb came from another paddock, and before you know it, there was twelve lambs and the shepherd. Now they still walked, although the shepherd had to work a little bit harder. The lambs still followed, and they still sat and ate and drank from the stream and slept in the sun; but as time would pass, more lambs came and more lambs arrived and soon there were a hundred lambs and one shepherd. And now the shepherd was starting to chase the odd lamb that would go in different directions than they should do, but they would always pull back into line because the good shepherd knew the truth and the lambs would understand the truth and they would follow the shepherd.

But as time went past there was two hundred sheep and now the older sheep would look and say, “I think the shepherd is tired,” and, “I think we shall help the shepherd and we shall take some of this responsibility upon ourselves,” and, “I think I shall be second in command,” said one of the older sheep, and the next sheep said, “Yes, and I shall be your right hand man too,” and before you knew it, there was ten sheep that were leading the other sheep.

Time went past and there was five hundred sheep and ten leading sheep and a shepherd. Two of the leading sheep said, “The shepherd doesn’t understand us any more. I believe that we are the true sheep. These other sheep, they’re just crossbred things that aren’t very important at all and I don’t believe the shepherd is with it any more. I think he is getting old and he doesn’t understand us.” And yet the sheep who were true to the shepherd said, “No. We are staying with the shepherd,” and the sheep split into two flocks.

The flock that left the shepherd became large as well as the flock that was with the shepherd. And the five that went with the other flock put five more in command and then five more and soon the sheep forgot what the shepherd had told them in the first place because the sheep that were left did not hear the shepherd’s voice. All they heard was the voice of the sheep and, as the sheep grew old and died, the younger sheep took the place of the older sheep and forgot what the shepherd had said, and soon they were worshipping idols and sacrificing creatures and what they believed to be the truth was a lie.

You see, you must always listen to the shepherd because the truth of man is not the truth unless the truth comes from the one who speaks; for He who speaks to the sheep can speak truth to the rest of the flock. But the sheep that believes he knows the truth, unintentionally will speak a lie and a lie becomes truth to the other sheep until all the sheep in that flock believe the lie and there is no escape from the lie, unless they can hear the shepherd. And yet they have been told that the shepherd is not the right way to go, so they avoid the shepherd at all cost and yet the shepherd can see these sheep and He weeps for those that are lost.

You see, never forget where the truth comes from. Never think that you have the answer because, if you pray, if you call out to the shepherd as the sheep did, then the shepherd will answer. As old as He was and as tired as He was, He would always answer the sheep no matter what time of the day it was. If a sheep said he was cold he would bring him close to another sheep and keep him warm. If the sheep said he was hungry he would stop walking and have them eat some grass. If they were thirsty he would lead them to the stream and let them drink; for the shepherd knew what the sheep needed and the shepherd led the sheep and the sheep followed; where the other flock were told what to do, ordered what to do by those who thought they knew what to do and what they should do. They did not know when the sheep were hungry. They did not know when the sheep needed to sleep and they did not know when the sheep were thirsty and so sheep would die and fall by the side.

Listen to the voice. Look to the light, for the shepherd is always there. He is never too tired. He is never too old. He is with you now as He has always been and He will not force you to places you do not wish to go but rather He shall walk before you that you have a path to follow, for the path of the shepherd is the correct path to go. He is a shepherd and always shall be, and He will always look for the sheep that needs to return.

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