Sheep can be very stubborn...
Illustration
Object:
Sheep can be very stubborn, disobedient, and self-willed. I remember one time when I
was visiting a farm near the church where I served. I grew up on a farm and knew that all
animals could be stubborn and would test the fences to see if they would let them
through. But sheep take the prize.
There, in the yard where I visited, was a sheep. There were sheep on both sides of the fence separating the small group of sheep. The one had decided that the other side of the fence was the only place to be.
The sheep kept throwing itself against the fence, again and again.
I had had experience with many animals on the farm, but none that would have not quit testing. Again and again it tested the fence -- never giving up. It must have been half an hour later when I left, it was still trying, still testing, and the fence was getting loose. It continued to throw itself against the fence.
The other sheep were grazing contentedly, but not this one. Little by little, the fence came loose, and the persistent critter was able to make its way through the fence after nearly two hours of testing and pushing.
Some people are like that, always testing, always thinking the better things are on the other side of the fence. "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).
There, in the yard where I visited, was a sheep. There were sheep on both sides of the fence separating the small group of sheep. The one had decided that the other side of the fence was the only place to be.
The sheep kept throwing itself against the fence, again and again.
I had had experience with many animals on the farm, but none that would have not quit testing. Again and again it tested the fence -- never giving up. It must have been half an hour later when I left, it was still trying, still testing, and the fence was getting loose. It continued to throw itself against the fence.
The other sheep were grazing contentedly, but not this one. Little by little, the fence came loose, and the persistent critter was able to make its way through the fence after nearly two hours of testing and pushing.
Some people are like that, always testing, always thinking the better things are on the other side of the fence. "All we like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6).
