Read
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23:1
Reflect
My stepfather used to keep a collection of sheep in his office. Not real sheep, mind you, but an assortment of stuffed animal sheep. Children always loved them. Whenever people would come over to meet with him, if they had kids, the young ones had fun playing with the sheep while the adults talked.
After all, sheep are really cute.
That’s the image we tend to have of sheep, isn’t it? They’re adorable, and they seem to have virtually no responsibilities. They eat grass, they wander around, and they look fluffy and harmless. But get close enough and you start to notice other things. They smell—really bad. They’re noisy. And they aren’t very bright.
In fact, sheep are rather dumb animals with an unfortunate talent for attracting wolves. Leave a sheep unattended long enough and it won’t just wander off—it will get lost. And a lost sheep is a wolf magnet, an easy meal waiting to happen.
That’s why sheep need a shepherd.
The shepherd watches over every sheep, but that care isn’t always gentle. Psalm 23 speaks of the comfort of the rod and the staff, though to the sheep it might not feel comforting at first. Sometimes the shepherd uses the rod to get the sheep’s attention. Other times he uses the crook of the staff to hook the sheep around the neck and pull it back from danger. Both actions can hurt in the moment—but both can save the sheep’s life.
God tells us we are His sheep, and He is our Shepherd. Left to ourselves, we’re prone to wander. We get distracted, we drift, and before long, we find ourselves isolated and vulnerable. That’s when the wolves move in.
The world’s wolves don’t all look the same. Some seek to part you from your money, even convincing you that your salvation depends on how much you give. Others aim at your purity, using flattery and kindness to gain your trust before steering you into relationships that pull you away from God. And still others aren’t satisfied until they’ve divided the flock—spreading dissatisfaction, sowing discord, and slowly tearing a church apart by finding fault everywhere they look.
A wolf has no interest in you staying close to the Shepherd—Jesus—because closeness to Him is the one place they cannot follow.
In the days ahead, focus on staying close to the Shepherd. Pay attention to where the Lord may be trying to get your attention, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. Pray that He will keep you near, protect you, and guard you from the wolves that would love nothing more than to pull you away from Him.
Reflection copyright © 2026 Doug DeBolt
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
