There’s a story floating around the Internet about a Merino sheep which hid out in caves to avoid having his wool sheared. The sheep which has been named “Shrek” ran away from his flock, evading detection, and avoiding being sheared for 6 years.
Two weeks after his capture, he was shorn of 60 lbs of wool. If Merino sheep aren’t sheared, their wool continues to grow, unlike other types of sheep. A normal Merino sheep has about 10 lbs of wool but can grow up to 33 lbs of wool. The 60 lbs of wool from Shrek the sheep is said to be enough to make 20 large men’s wool suits. His shearing was televised live on New Zealand television. After that, he was a national celebrity. He wore a red and white blanket coat to keep him warm after all that wool was shorn. (Story from this website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/8560719/New-Zealands-celebrity-sheep-Shrek-dies.html)
My favorite picture of Jesus is the one of Him holding the little lost sheep. “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” Luke 15:4 NIV.
The shepherds searched for Shrek the Merino sheep for 6 years before he was found. He was lost, not because something bad happened to him, but because of his own desire to avoid shearing. Maybe he got a little bit lost and then got used to being away from the herd of sheep.
Are you wandering away from the sheepfold, the Church? With every day that you are out in the wilderness, it makes it that much harder to come home. You can be a Christian, but still be wandering, out of contact with other sheep, and away from the sheepfold.
“For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” I Peter 2:25 NIV.
It’s time to come home to the sheepfold and the Good Shepherd.