Even Geese Need a Shepherd

"...He calls his own sheep by name & leads them out...and his sheep follow him because they know his voice...I [Jesus] am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep...I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me...They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd." ~Selected verses from John 10:3-16 [emphasis mine ~KW<><]

Yesterday, as my husband & I were making the country drive back home from church, we saw one of the largest gaggles of flying geese we've ever seen. It was amazing & beautiful. I could hardly take my eyes off of it.

However, something unusual caught my attention. As there were SO many geese, their pattern kept changing; going from a huge V, to several smaller Vs, to more fluid forms that looked like swirling eddies in the sky. I made the observation to my husband that it appeared that there were "too many chiefs & not enough Indians"! lol Have you ever heard that old saying? It means that there are too many people wanting to be the leader & so, even though the job eventually gets done, not knowing who to follow & getting so many mixed messages makes the job harder to do & takes longer to accomplish.

That seemed to be how their flight pattern was going. I thought how they looked more like ducks than geese!

Have your ever noticed how flying geese are usually so seemingly calm & fly so effortlessly? While ducks seem to fly all over the place & all their honking & quacking seems to say, "Excuse me! Pardon me! Ooops, sorry! Excuse me, I can't stop, here I come! Get outta the way!" They can be pretty comical, if you watch.

But yesterday's geese were losing their 'pattern' & were flying more like ducks. It seemed they were trying to hear the call of a real leader. Oh, I have no doubt that they will eventually get to wherever they're going, but the trip will probably be fraught with lost time, honks of ingratitude & some ruffled tail feathers!

Sounds like us, doesn't it?

Everyone needs the leadership that only God, through His Son Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd, can give. Oh, we might 'follow' certain favorite writers, favorite T.V./radio/internet preachers; but if we are not being 'good Bereans' (Acts 17:11) & weighing everything by the measure of Scripture, we will be flying haphazardly like those geese who were listening for the leader while those other wanna-be leaders are greedily honking, "follow me!"..."No! Follow me!", & we end up being just like a bunch of awkward ducks...or those geese, listening for someone ~ anyone ~ to follow & taking our family along for a rough ride filled w/lost time & feelings of failure & mistrust.

Silly goose, there's only One true Leader, only One true Shepherd. Let us train our ears to hear His voice & follow.

Blessings from Ohio...Kim<><