As believers in Jesus, we are referred to as sheep many times throughout scripture. Jesus calls us His sheep, with Him as our shepherd.

“”I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep”” (John 10:11).

“Know that the Lord Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

David refers to the shepherd-like nature of God in Psalm 23, one of the most powerful chapters in the whole Bible. Even when you look at sheep, in their nature and attitude, or how they live and act, it’s clear that we bear a resemblance with the farm animal.

But what qualities do we share with each other? And how does this relate to the Lord in any sort of way? A very simple study of the sheep’s most interesting behaviors will tell you all you need to know.

Sheep Will Always Follow

I saw a clip recently of a baby sheep that followed a man around. While the man was trying to make a point of us following the shepherd, the lamb would simply trot around to wherever the man went. Even though the man was just visiting this farm, the lamb still followed the man wherever it went. They were simply designed to follow something or someone.

We are similar. Scripture tells us that we can’t love God, and love money at the same time (Matthew 6:24). That’s because one of them will always be a “master” in our life. We will follow one of those things and be in pursuit of it, while neglecting the other. Likewise, we can’t serve another religion’s god while also serving and worshipping Jesus. There were many Israelites that tried to do this in the Old Testament stories, and it didn’t work.

Even though there weren’t any other “real” gods, the other civilizations and nations throughout scripture still worshipped some form of a god. Even today, some of us worship our phones and ourselves, over Jesus. That’s because we, as humans, are designed to follow something or someone. We are designed to have a master, better yet, a shepherd, that leads us and guides us to where we are supposed to go. Just as a sheep is designed to have a shepherd to follow, we are designed to follow something, and that something should be the Lord.

Sheep Are Dependent

Going from there, sheep are also naturally very dependent. They cannot survive on their own.

There is a book called A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, written by W. Philip Keller that gives greater insight on our sheep-like nature for those of us that don’t have an actual farm. If you’ve never read Psalm 23, I would encourage you to read it, but the general basis of the Psalm is that the Lord meets every need that a shepherd should. From the book, however, we get to see an actual shepherd’s perspective.

Through the book, he goes on to list all of the stupid things that sheep do, but also, all that a shepherd must do to care for the flock. He has to find them good water to drink. He protects them from wolves and other predators. And he has to get them to rest, which according to this shepherd, is much more difficult than it seems. Likewise, the Lord does the same.

The Lord, when given the opportunity by His sheep, would like to meet our every need. In fact, when we are truly led by the Lord, He does meet every need. He provides for food and sustenance. He brings us peace to rest and cast all our cares upon Him, and He keeps us safe from our spiritual, and often physical, opposition. However, we must allow Him to provide for all these needs, because like a sheep, we are often too dumb to receive these things well.

“I Shall Not Want”

When there is a good shepherd that tends to his sheep well, there is a flock that lacks nothing. A flock that lacks nothing, should be in want of nothing. However, many of us come to a place where we are constantly desiring more things, possibly even worldly things. We are very much in want.

W. Philip Keller tells the story in his book of a sheep that he eventually had to put down. It was disturbing the peace of His flock and would constantly be dissatisfied with what they had, jumping over or crawling under the fence to get to the other side. It wasn’t the pasture that was the problem however, but the sheep’s lack of satisfaction with what the shepherd has to offer. Does that resonate with you?

We all can find ourselves in this place. Placing our minds on the carnal things of this world, and not of what God has to offer. Maybe we even desire the things of God but become impatient with the Lord and His timing. This way of thinking will eventually lead to a dissatisfaction with God and will put a wretch in God’s provision. This isn’t because the Lord isn’t leading us to still waters or bringing us a pasture to eat and rest. But because we won’t receive what God is offering.

We must recognize that as His sheep, we are dependent on Him for our every need. For peace, life, and provision, and more, we are dependent. But if we aren’t placing our faith and trust in Him, nor being satisfied with what He has to offer, we won’t receive everything He longs to give, nor will we have the life that He so willingly offers.