I know very little about sheep. They are cute and fuzzy and make funny noises. I have sweaters because they have donated their fuzziness. They graze in fields. To me, all sheep look alike; I can’t tell them apart. I don’t know any more about the shepherds who take care of the sheep. I always assumed that being a shepherd involved things like feeding them and getting them safely from their pens and the fields and back again. “How hard could it be?” I thought. Biblical scholar, William Barclay set me straight.

He pointed out that sheep have their own identities, their own unique personalities. Barclay went on to talk about shepherds saying that a shepherd knows each sheep individually and by name and that the shepherd’s life was very difficult.

“No flock ever grazed without a shepherd, and the shepherd was never off duty. There being little grass, the sheep were bound to wander, and since there were no protecting walls, the sheep had constantly to be watched…The shepherd's task was not only constant but dangerous, for, in addition, the shepherd had to guard the flock against wild animals. especially against wolves, and there were always thieves and robbers ready to steal the sheep…Constant vigilance, fearless courage, patient love for the flock, were the necessary characteristics of the shepherd.”

So much for the easy life that I assumed that they had.

Reminders like Barclay’s are helpful to us today when our worlds rarely encounter sheep but the Bible is full of images of sheep and shepherds to portray characteristics of God and Jesus. The beloved Psalm 23 begins with the words, “The Lord is my shepherd.” John’s Gospel uses the image of a shepherd to tell us something about Jesus: "I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. I give up my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15, CEB)

Think about the nature of a shepherd that Barclay shares and then reflect upon these two passages of scripture. “The Lord is my shepherd.” “I am the good shepherd.” God in Jesus Christ is a shepherd to us sheep. Our task is to follow where Jesus leads. In return God promises to take care of us, to protect us, to know us by name, and to face any danger to bring us home. What a rich reminder as our Lenten journey draws ever closer to the cross where God’s loving willingness to protect and care for us, to face any danger for us, comes into sharp focus!

Where do you feel uncertain in your life? Where are you anxious or frightened or restless or lonely? In those times, remember that the Lord is your shepherd? Remember that Jesus promised that he was the good shepherd who would give up his life for us. And then went to a cross to prove it. In these days as Lent draws to a close carry in your heart as a mantra the words of the Psalmist: “The Lord is my shepherd” and the promise of the lengths and depths to which our Savior Shepherd goes to protect us, to encourage us, to make us whole. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is your shepherd. What a promise to fill us with hope and joy and peace!