What if you couldn’t see more than 10 feet in front of you, and that everything beyond that is totally blurry? That would be very hard to do anything useful on your own, right? Fortunately, God has gifted us with eyesight that can see, at best, up to 250 feet clearly.
But sheep aren’t so lucky. They literally are short-sighted, and cannot see beyond 10 to 15 feet in front of them. They have very wide vision, like a super-wide-angle lens; and this is because their eyes are on opposite sides of their head. But still, they cannot see far. They’re easily distracted, but they hardly have any idea where they are or where they’re going. That is why sheep have a notorious reputation for going astray, and just wandering around and often getting lost. And Jesus had several parables about sheep getting lost, like for example in Luke 15:3-7, where He talks about a shepherd going after the one lost sheep.
THINGS WE CANNOT SEE
But no matter how sharp our eyes are (even while wearing glasses to give us 20-20 vision), there are certain things that we just can’t see very well. Obviously, we can’t see what is in the dark, right? But we also can’t see what is in the future. And, neither can we see what is in the hearts and minds of others. Sometimes, not even in our own hearts and minds. And though God may have given us the gift of wisdom, of foresight, and of insight, we don’t have a perfect view of these things.
And in these areas, we are notoriously short-sighted ourselves, just like the wandering sheep.
And yet, we make day to day decisions, assuming we can see into the future, and we judge people and their intentions and past actions, even when we cannot see into their hearts and minds.
Even if we had invested in ways to see with sharper eyes, like education, philosophy, critical thinking … we still can’t see enough to be certain exactly to know that we’re in the right place, doing the right thing, and going in the right direction. We’re always at risk of doing the wrong thing, at the wrong time, with the wrong resources, and for the wrong reason.
Especially on matters that count the most, we take a big risk when we trust in our own clouded vision, because whether we admit it or not, we are severely short sighted, and almost blind.
ENTER THE SHEPHERD
And that’s why we need a good shepherd. Someone who sees what we don’t see. Someone who knows what we don’t know. Someone who can even see into the future. And someone who says, “Follow Me. I am the way, the truth and the life.” Of course, you know who I’m talking about.
My friends, when I got to know this Jesus who invited me to follow Him, when I learned what He could do, with what He knew, and when I learned that He had only my best personal interest in mind, well, I put all my bets on Him. I would have been a fool not to.
What about you, my friend? I know you know who Jesus is. But would you like to know MORE about Him, about what He could do, and about what He offers to do for you? Send me a message and let’s talk. I’d be delighted to tell you more. It’s a conversation you will never forget for the rest of your life.
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