ODB: Meet Shrek

June 19, 2014

READ: Ezekiel 34:11-16 

I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. —Ezekiel 34:11

Shrek was a renegade sheep. He went missing from his flock and remained lost for 6 years. The person who found him living in a cave on a high and rugged place in New Zealand didn’t recognize him as a sheep. “He looked like some biblical creature,” he said. In a way, he was. Shrek was a picture of what happens to sheep who become separated from their shepherd.

Shrek had to be carried down the mountain because his fleece was so heavy (60 lbs or 27 kg) that he couldn’t walk down on his own. To relieve Shrek of the weight of his waywardness, he was turned upside down so that he would remain still and not be harmed when the shearer removed his heavy fleece.

Shrek’s story illustrates the metaphor Jesus used when He called Himself the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), and when God referred to His people as His flock (Ezek. 34:31). Like Shrek, we do not make good choices when we’re on our own, and we become weighed down with the consequences (Ezek. 33:10). To relieve us of the weight, we may have to be on our backs for a time. When we end up in this position, it is good to remain still and trust the Good Shepherd to do His work without hurting us.

— Julie Ackerman Link

God’s training is designed to grow us in faith.

Source: Our Daily Bread