One evening Jack and a few of his friends started out in search of a certain lake in the Welsh mountains. They were excited about this hike as they had often heard about how beautiful it was near the lake.
Jack and his friends were walking along in silence when suddenly they heard a strange little noise. They all stood still listening and heard it again and again. Quietly the boys walked in the direction from which they had heard the strange sound. Soon they came upon a poor little lamb stuck in some muddy ground. The lamb continued to bleat sadly, but they could not rescue it. If they had tried to get too close to the lamb, they would have gotten stuck in the mud too. So, although it made them very unhappy to leave the little animal behind, they had to go on and finally they no longer heard its pathetic bleating.
Each of us is like that little lamb. It had wandered so far away from the flock that when the other sheep were called by the shepherd to go down the mountain, the lamb did not hear the call and it was left behind lost! Isn’t this just what we all have done? We’ve wandered away from the Good Shepherd—gotten lost because we have refused to listen to His voice calling us. If you have not listened to the call of the Lord Jesus, the Good Shepherd, you are just like the poor foolish lamb—helpless and lost.
Jack and his friends continued their walk to the lake. They reached the top of the mountain and stayed for a short time. Then they went down by another path, still looking for the lake. A short way down the mountain the group met a shepherd. They told him about the helpless lamb and begged him to go back and save it.
“Ah, I’m sorry to hear this,” the shepherd told them. “If it were not so late in the day I would go see what I could do. But by the time I could reach the spot it would be dark.”
“Then do you think that it can live through the cold night?” Jack asked.
“I’m afraid not; it’s such a young thing,” the shepherd replied.
So Jack and his friends had to move on, but it was a long time before they could forget the poor little lamb that no one could save.
How different the Lord Jesus is from the shepherd the boys met. The Bible tells us, “All we like sheep have gone astray.” Isaiah 53:6. But then the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus, saw us when we got lost and came to find us. He gave Himself for us. It cost Him His life. He wants to save each one from everlasting death. Just believe in Him, accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour and trust yourself to Him. The Lord Jesus said of Himself, “The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” John 10:11,27,28.
ML-06/24/1984