Nibbling
Sheep
Isaiah 53:6
1 Peter 2:25
Many times in the Scriptures we are likened to sheep. Ps 100:3 calls us the sheep of his pasture. John 10 refers to Jesus the Good Shepherd who calls us by name and to his sheep (those of us who know him personally) who hear his voice. Other references to sheep are found in Isaiah 40:11, Psalms 119:176, Psalms 23:1, Hebrews 13:20. Isaiah 53:6 tells us that all we like have gone astray, each turning to our own way and the Lord laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity (guilt and sin) of us all. Jesus paid the debt for our sin which is ultimately going our own way. The problem is that after we receive the gift of salvation, we sometimes tend to go our own way. Sheep do not intentionally run away and get lost. Sheep nibble, nibble, nibble their way away from the safety of the shepherd. They slowly move away not noticing how far they've gone. We as Christians do the same thing in our spiritual walk with our Lord. We just ‘nibble' at the things of the world. As we continue to nibble towards the worl's way and away from God's way, we often find that we've drifted father from the Lord than we ever intended. We finally look up to find a wide gulf between the Good Shepherd and ourselves. What has caused the seperation? Sin. Sin is choosing our own way. The hymn writer wrote "prone to wander, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the one I love."
How about you? Have you been ‘nibbling' bib by bit, little by little away from the Lord? Most of us don't make a concentrated effort to wander from God. It's more of a subtle, gradual nibbling away which eventually leads us into the ‘enemy's' camp.
Some signs that you have, like a sheep, wandered away from the Shepherd include:
you no longer have a consistent, daily time with the Lord
you don't find time to stay in the Word or don't have a desire or hunger for the Word
you fail to pray as often as you need to or maybe your prayers sound more like a shopping list of what you want from God
things of the world that used to shock and abhor you are not so bad anymore; such as movies, TV, magazines that no longer bother you
you find yourself irritable, impatient, gossiping, using inappropriate languageAre you following the dictates of this world or the teachings and truths of God's Word? 1 Peter 2:25 says, "For you were like sheep gone astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." Praise be to God our Father who loving receives us, forgives our sins and restores our walk and joy. Look up sheep and return to the Shepherd!
