John 10:11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Rev 5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.
I have been working for the US Census Bureau for the last couple of weeks and have been driving all over this section of Oregon. It is interesting work and I meet lots of interesting people. I also see lots of cool animal like turkeys, deer, buffalo, horses, llamas, alpacas, and sheep, thousands of sheep. They are so cute, especially the new born ones. I really like sheep and think of the scriptures that calls us sheep quite often. So I guess we can consider ourselves cute and stupid. Now I could go into proving that by giving an analysis of sheep but that has been done so many times I think I will pass.
What I am more interested in is Jesus. These are devotionals you know. One of the things that I find interesting about Jesus in His inscrutability. Our verses today says that He is the Shepherd and the Lamb. Now how does that work? How can Jesus be the shepherd and the sheep? Well it is just like Him isn;t it. I mean He is the Lion of Judah and the Lamb of God. He is the beginning and the end. He is all man and all God. He was before the beginning and is, already, at the end. How can that be? It can be because of two important facts. One, He is God. And, two, we are not. We are finite and He is infinite.
I mention that because I find it fascinating when I hear prople trying to figure out Jesus. They seem to only be able to grasp things about Him that they can understand. If we could it would mean only one thing. Our God is too small. If you ever get the chance, read the book, Your God Is Too Small by J B Phillips. I have read that little book three times and always am greatly blessed by it. It has helped me to understand that not grasping all there is about God and scripture is a good thing. I don't want a God who is so small that I can understand Him. There are doctrines that I believe but cannot fully understand. That is OK with me now. When I was younger it bothered me but as I matured I understood that I could trust God. I could trust Him with my life and my eternity.
When you get to the point where you do not have to have a complete explanation for everything about God, your life will relax a lot. You won't find yourself wrestling with the things taught in scripture and you will find yourself arguing less with other Christians about what you should or should not, believe. We must contend for the faith, I know, but we do not need to be contentious while doing it.
Go see some sheep sometime soon. You will find them very cute. They will look like you. Lol.
Theo
Dear Small Group Leader (or soon to be Facilitator)
Please allow everyone in your group to answer the Quick Question. It will get things started on the right foot, encouraging quieter ones to open up. Please do not require everyone to answer every question. They may not be ready to share yet. Also please allow at least 5-10 minutes at the end of your study so as many as would like to can respond to the REFLECTION question. This may be the most important time in your small group study. Thank You
SMALL GROUP BIBLE STUDY
Please Read: John 10:1-10
QUICK QUESTION: What is your impression of sheep? If you were God would you have used sheep as a description for humans? Why or why not?
If they could think, what would sheep think about their shepherd?
When Jesus spoke, how did He impress those He spoke to?
To what did Jesus liken Himself to?
Who would the sheep not listen to?
How did Jesus relate His coming to a thief?
How is Jesus like a shepherd?
REFLECTION: How could you become better at listening for Jesus' direction in your life?
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