Shearing of Sheep

I admit that sometimes I mindlessly scroll through Facebook. On one such occasion I saw a video of a sheep that was being sheared. This sheep was pretty overgrown.

(The pics of the massively overgrown sheep below are not the same sheep that is being sheared in the photos. I am gratuitously using them for dramatic effect.)

Now, the hugely overgrown sheep (two different ones, by the way) were wild sheep that were rescued by people who care about animals. The one named Shrek was found in a cave after avoiding shearing for six years, and the other, named Baarack, was just wandering around alone in a forest.

They were both domesticated sheep, bred for their wool, and used to live on farms. Somehow they each escaped their enclosure and wandered for years, their wool just getting heavier and heavier.

They were brought back into the fold, but couldn’t be left the way they were. They could hardly see or walk. Something had to be done. They had to be sheared.

Now, the shearing process is not easy. The shearer can’t just come in with a pair of scissors and start chopping away. They have to have a game plan.

Because the amount of wool on these sheep, if not dealt with carefully, could create new wounds. As it is sheared, the weight of all that wool pulls on the skin still attached to it. So the shearer has to carefully decide where to start, and how to proceed.

It isn’t a speedy process, either. Or comfy. The sheep is contorted and twisted in various positions as the shearer works to free them from their heavy load.

And a lot of trust is involved.

That shearer runs those sharp implements very close to the eyes, face, and other sensitive areas of the sheep’s body. If they aren’t careful, they can nick the skin and cause infections. The sheep must be still while the shearer works, to aid in the process being safe and effective.

This is so much like me.

Before I met Jesus I was carrying around a lifetime’s worth of sin. I was 28 when I understood the Gospel (even though I had been raised in the church and came from a Christian home), and I had done plenty to cause my own wool of sin to be quite thick and heavy. Just like those sheep, there was no way I was going to shear myself. I was hopeless and helpless.

Enter Jesus.

He sheared my sins away. All the heaviness that was weighing me down, all the time I’d spent wandering alone trying to make it through life… Jesus stepped in and changed it all for the better.

He took care when shearing away my bad habits and sin. He helped me build trust as He worked, teaching me to be still and let Him complete the process. We had to work together to make it effective.

No more wandering off on my own, trying to make it through life, avoiding shearing. I have to remind myself that it is for my good, for my spiritual health, for His glory. It needs to be a regular part of my life.

And perhaps others will see my shearing and also learn to trust Jesus to shear them, too. He’s kind of obsessed with rescuing lost sheep.

How much ‘wool’ has Jesus sheared off of you? Don’t let it build up like these sheep, or like you were when He first found you. Relax in the hands of the Master Shearer and let Him get you back on track!

John 10:14-16; Luke 15:4-6; Acts 3:19; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

If you want to see the video of Baarack’s shearing, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/Xd9vViq4zR4