The sheep came, and stood looking up into his face.
He called another, and another, and there they stood looking up at the
shepherd.
"How can you tell them apart?"
"Oh, there are no two alike. See, that sheep toes in a little; this
sheep is a little bit squint-eyed; that sheep has a black spot on its
nose."
My friend found that he knew every one of his sheep by their failings.
He didn't have a perfect one in his flock.
I suppose that is the way the Lord knows you and me. There is a man
that is covetous; he wants to grasp the whole world. He wants a
shepherd to keep down that spirit. There is a woman down there who has
an awful tongue; she keeps the whole neighborhood stirred up. There is
a woman over there who is deceitful, terribly so. She needs the care
of a shepherd to keep her from deceit, for she will ruin all her
children; they will all turn out just like their mother. There is a
father over there who wouldn't swear for all the world before his
children, but sometimes he gets provoked in his business and swears
before he knows it. Doesn't he need a shepherd's care? I would like to
know if there is a man or woman on earth who doesn't need the care of
a shepherd. Haven't we all got failings? If you really want to know
what your failings are, you can find some one who can point them out.
God would never have sent Christ into the world if we didn't need His
care. We are as weak and foolish as sheep.