Christ the Good Shepherd, We the Sheep
National Geographic’s March 2008 issue had the cover story on animals thinking abilities. Most of us would have wondered if our pets had thought processes or we may have suspected they do when sometimes they just stare at us. Virginia Morell has dispelled all notions about this by relating various experiments conducted in several species of mammals, birds and fish that indicate that animals do think!
Within the article there is a description about sheep attributes. They can recognize different faces (up to 50 other sheep and 10 human). They have good memory as they can remember these faces for up to 2 years. Furthermore they are calmed by familiar faces and differentiate between angry and happy faces - they prefer happy ones.
Reading this, made me recall a passage in the New Testament that Jesus said He is the Good Shepherd and His sheep know him. Jesus is the kind (calm), happy person we read in the Bible. If we are His sheep, just like real sheep, we should be attracted to Him, because sheep gravitate towards a calm, happy disposition.
Moreover, like real sheep, we should have a good memory and not forget our Good Shepherd and recognize Him among and differentiate Him from the false prophets out there preaching angry messages.
Hence the sheep of the Good Shepherd keep His commandments. Never thought that being analogous to sheep would have been complimentary from Heaven’s viewpoint.
