The Narrow Way

Miss Daisy. Would I even have anything to write about if not for her? 🤣 If you’ve read any of my blogs, you may remember that she’s my favorite sheep, the matriarch of my flock 😌 I have a total of 7 sheep right now, but none are like her. She is a top notch sheep in every way PLUS she has a fantastic temperament. All of that aside;

Daisy knows my voice.

Daisy follows where I lead.

Daisy leaves the flock to chase after me.

The other sheep, well… I’m not so sure who they are 🤷‍♀️ I mean, I know their names, their general disposition. I know which of them is likely to head butt me or who’s the first for the grain bucket, but I can’t say that I know them the way I know Daisy.

I’ve only owned her a little over a year, yet because of our bond, Daisy has secured a forever home, even after she can no longer breed. Unfortunately for the other sheep, they don’t have that security. I don’t know them like I do Daisy, and it’s not for my lack of effort. It’s theirs 😔 They’ve chosen not to come as close as she does. Furthermore, while they may come running as a whole when I call, I don’t think they actually care to follow ME, I suspect that they actually follow Daisy and come to me by default (following her as she leads them to me).

The Parable of the Wedding Feast:

“Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. ³ He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.⁴ “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ ⁵ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. ⁶ The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. ⁷ The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.⁸ “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. ⁹ So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ ¹⁰ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ¹² He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.¹³ “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:1-14

OUCH. Can I just say, no one likes that part? 😬

But it’s fair.

God is just.

Back to my flock. As far as I can tell, Daisy is the only sheep who genuinely trusts me, the rest just sorta go with the crowd. Like the guy at the wedding feast who didn’t put on the wedding clothes (which BTW were provided, it’s not like he was too poor, he chose not to), he thought he was ok just slipping in among the crowd. He was doing what everyone else was, except for one important detail: his outward appearance reflected his heart’s attitude. It’s really not much different than the sheep. Except with my sheep, they all look the part, it’s their heart’s attitude that’s different. They don’t all want to be close to me. They aren’t willing to put off their old ways and put on “the wedding clothes.”

They don’t see what I see, which is that even though Daisy is still one of them, she’s been transformed. A little over a year ago she went from being skittish and leery of me to looking for me daily. Because she responded to me, we have a relationship.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” Ez 36:26

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Mat 7:21-23

The sheep don’t know it, but there is a day coming, March 5, 2024, when we will separate the sheep. The ram lambs will go to butcher and the pregnant ewes, Daisy and 3 others, will remain. Just like the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, except of course it’s sheep and sheep here 😉

The truth is, there is also a day coming for each of us, be it the return of Jesus or our death. What needs to be settled is if we’re a ram lamb/part of the general flock or a Daisy. Do we know our Shepherd?

Unfortunately, the way we do church in America makes it really easy to be part of the flock without having the changes that a relationship with our Shepherd produces. And we’re only cheating ourselves, albeit, sometimes unknowingly 😔

We’ve made it really easy to just show up to a service and attend the same activities. With social media we’ve made it really easy to follow pastors and public Christian figures online, not unlike how my flock follows Daisy instead of me. We can convince ourselves that because we do the right things outwardly, we’re in good standing, but God…He’s looking at the heart…♥️

All of my sheep have the same opportunity to get to know me, but as it says in Matthew, few are chosen…

While my example doesn’t carry over perfectly, because the other 3 ewes get a stay even though they don’t know me, it’s worth noting that their stay is conditional. As long as they’re able to be productive, I have room for them. In the event that they aren’t, they too will load for the butcher. And it’s not because I don’t care for them, but unlike God, I have practical limitations (dollars and acreage)🤷‍♀️

God, thankfully, has room for EVERYONE 🙌 He invites EVERYONE to come to the wedding feast and provides us with garments of righteousness. This means you! You have a choice to make. And if you’ve already made that choice, I want to remind you: there’s a difference between Daisy and the other ewes. Just because all of the ewes have a current stay, doesn’t mean they have a permanent one.

Like David we need to pray:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! Ps 139:23-24

Because our hearts can deceive us.

But isn’t it wonderful that we can’t fool God? 🥹 🙌 We may be able to fool ourselves or those around us, but we can not fool God. Ask yourself: do I know my Shepherd or do I just know of Him? Because someday, maybe even today, the answer to this will be all that matters. Do we know the Lord for ourself, or do we just know about Him through others?

While this isn’t the most “feel good” blog I’ve ever written, I feel it could be one of the more important ones. If you’re like Daisy, stay the course, no matter what. But if anything in you says you’re just part of the flock, missing out on your own genuine relationship with God, there’s still time to change that 🙌

If you can, find someone to disciple you. Make time for God EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Pause. Sit with Him. Read the Bible. Wait on Him. Obey Him. You will get to know Him, and perhaps more importantly, He will get to know YOU.

Side note, if you’re just in a rough place, you feel like maybe you were a Daisy but now you’re one of the flock, sorta distant from God…please don’t panic 🫶 The journey with our Shepherd can be LONG, and we may not feel close all the time. Sometimes we’re going through a series of struggles or failures, but it doesn’t mean there has been a status change. Remember, He’s looking at your heart. ♥️ Once you’ve given your life to the Good Shepherd by putting your faith in Jesus, He doesn’t just forget you or leave you behind.

I chose Daisy, and she chose me back, which has been evidenced by her actions. It’s no different with God. We don’t earn His love. He chooses each one of us, calls us to the wedding feast and makes room, the only part we are responsible for is responding by faith and putting on His righteousness (the wedding garments).

A final thought, regarding this picture…No matter what, I’m always open to my entire flock drawing near. Alternatively, if Daisy suddenly changed and stopped coming to me, I wouldn’t disown her or forget our relationship; rather I’d long to have it back. That’s God’s heart towards us. Always.

Today I pray that if you’re not 100% confident about which kind of sheep you are, that you would take some time figure that out 🙂

Thank God there is room for all of us in His pasture.

As always, thanks for stopping by 💚