Seeing The Picture

When apostle Paul told us to beware
of dogs, many of us didn’t pay attention
to the picture the apostle to the gentiles
was trying to paint…
Shepherds in Israel and their sheep have
a very unique relationship
Hardly would you see a shepherd
struggling to keep his sheep in line
If five shepherds and their heard of
sheep meet at a river, the shepherds
are never afraid that the sheep will
get confused and follow another shepherd
Whenever the shepherds are ready to go,
they make a sound with their mouth and
their sheep’s ears will stand as they
follow the shepherd
The reason shepherds have rods was
mostly for serpents, of course, there are
some sheep that would need a stroke
or two of the rod to comfort them
because they err too often but the rod
is basically to protect the sheep against
external aggression
Some shepherds keep dogsMost of the
time just one dog that would keep the
shepherd company and run ahead of
the herd of sheep
The dogs are useful in spotting danger,
raising alarm and sometimes keeping
the sheep from wandering off and
getting lost
The dogs run with the sheep, but cannot
eat what they eat
The dogs are friends with the shepherd
but they serve no commercial or valuable
purpose whatsoever
The shepherd can’t kill, sell or shear them
Dogs are not sheep and can never be
sheep regardless of how long they mingle
with the herd or follow the shepherd
The same appliesto some so called
believers
They are dogs in their mentality, they
join a church but they do so just to keep
social company and issue warnings to
other members who they feel are
misguided
They believe they are superior to the
sheep and sometimes would vie for
leadership positions in the church
because they feel the others were
too slack or too agreeable to lead
I had a brother in our campus fellowship
in the late 2000s, he came to me
saying he wanted to be BSF president
He needed my support
I told him I cannot support him because
it is not an election
I also happen to know who the next
president will be by revelation and I
told him
He said “That guy is too docile to lead
the fellowship, you need a bold and
outspoken guy like me who can
restructure things and bring the university
authority to the negotiation table with
some level of seriousness
He assumed the fellowship was an SUG
and felt it should do more than propagate
Christ. You will wonder how that had
been his agenda through his four years
on campus
All the sermons, teachings and trainings
didn’t make him see he was barking at
the wrong tree
That’s a dog
Not a sheep
A sheep follows the agenda and leadership
of the Holy Spirit, not vain ambition
A sheep is not as foolish as the dog thinks,
but the dog doesn’t know this
To the dog, it is smarter and the sheep
is a foot matWhen you read some
comments and posts online
You will know when a sheep is speaking
and when a dog is speaking
Dogs eat a lot of shit so it is natural for
them to speak a lot of shit, after all, you
are what you eat
The sheep however is circumspect, slow
to speak and quick to ear
There is nothing happening today
that Is new
The sheep must allow the dogs to bark,
and speak shit, it is their nature
The sheep must however tune her ears
to the voice of her shepherd and walk in
His steps
Some lambs get confused at the barking
of the dog, this is because they are not
mature yet
Remember what Jesus told Peter?
He said “Simon, son of a Barjonas,
do you love me?”
Peter said “Yes I do”
Then the Lord said “Tend my lamb”
The Lord mentioned the Lamb first
because He knew how vulnerable
they are to the vicissitudes of this
world
Then the Lord told him to tend His
sheep twice!
Always remember this and identify
speakers by their words
When a sheep responds to a dog, a
dog can neither hear nor understand
the sense in the words
The dog must have its day no matter
how senseless that day turns out
Always remember this too
Take comfort in the words of Jesus
He said His sheep hears his voice
and they obey it
He made no mention of the dog because
he didn’t count their existence to
mean anything.
There are many dogs on the social media,
as long as you are not one, when you
see their post you will just shake your
head and move on

'-GSW