Once again, Father, I give You credit for providing me with the privilege of driving a school bus. Tomorrow reflects one more benefit…Spring Break! We will have several days together as a family – what a two-for-one blessing!
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With the improving weather, Massey and I have been trying to get out for a good 30-minute walk each day. Last week I made a short jaunt alone on our local segment of the Ohio to Erie Trail (you can actually travel from Cincinnati to Cleveland on a very well-developed trail system for hikers, bikers, or walkers!)
Anyway, not far from where I began, I saw the remains of a dead sheep near a fence on the top of a bank bordering the trail. Then today I saw what was left of the sheep and flying away from its carcass was a black vulture.
All vultures are sort of nasty, being that their diet consists of dead animals. They do play an important role in the ecosystem by disposing of carrion which would otherwise be a breeding ground for disease. But the black vulture is nasty on a whole other level. While the more common turkey vulture will eat only dead animals, the black vulture, much to the chagrin of farmers, will attack cattle and sheep. The vultures will swarm the newborn or incapacitated animals in a group, then peck at its eyes, nose, or tongue. The animal then goes into shock and is killed by the vultures
Now I don’t think that’s what happened to the sheep I saw but after the black vulture found it, it was definitely a gruesome sight.
Many of us are familiar with Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep found in Luke 15:4-6,
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ NLT
That’s a story with a happy ending but what of the errant sheep whose stubbornness or naivety puts it in a place where it is beyond the point of being rescued?
Thinking along those lines brings to mind another passage of Scripture penned under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the Apostle Peter.
Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 NLT
The devil could just as easily be portrayed as a black vulture.
When we choose to do our own thing or go our own way, we are just as defenseless as dimwitted sheep! When we desire to separate ourselves from the “herd” we can readily put ourselves in harm’s way. There is security in numbers. Being a part of a group can help keep us moving in the right direction. And being in fellowship with others can deter those aggressive lions and black vultures from even coming around! But if we set our minds on pursuing our own desires our lives can become a gruesome sight as things beyond our ability to fend off take bite after bite out of us, until there is nothing left…
Lord Jesus, help us when we do wander, that we will never hesitate to return to Your side. And if You do find us in some predicament, may we quickly realize the error of our ways and joyfully yield to Your saving grace! Amen.
Mar 31st, 2021, 9:45 pm
