Once, there were two shepherds.
One shepherd is often talked about; his heroism being a well-known story. He is the one who looked after 100 sheep and, when one wandered off, he left the other ninety nine and looked everywhere, not stopping until he found it. When he did find it, he put the sheep on his shoulders and held a great celebration.
The other shepherd lived in a different time.
He also had 100 sheep, but some of his sheep were much younger – some were still lambs. One day, he noticed that one little lamb had wandered off. He was about to set off to search for that lamb, when he paused to think. The culture of the day said that lambs were fragile creatures that needed a lot of love and care, so much so that two shepherds were needed, just in case the lamb had gotten itself into a spot of bother.
The shepherd didn’t want to be accused of mistreating his delicate lamb, so he went to a neighbouring farm and asked the shepherd there if he could have some help. His neighbour listened to his problem, and then accused him of not thinking the situation through: how could he be so careless as to leave ninety nine sheep alone – especially when some of them were just lambs – in order to go searching for just one? Perhaps he should just cut his losses and get on with his duties for the others. After all, he could have faith that God would make sure the lost little lamb was safe...
One shepherd is often talked about; his heroism being a well-known story. He is the one who looked after 100 sheep and, when one wandered off, he left the other ninety nine and looked everywhere, not stopping until he found it. When he did find it, he put the sheep on his shoulders and held a great celebration.
The other shepherd lived in a different time.
He also had 100 sheep, but some of his sheep were much younger – some were still lambs. One day, he noticed that one little lamb had wandered off. He was about to set off to search for that lamb, when he paused to think. The culture of the day said that lambs were fragile creatures that needed a lot of love and care, so much so that two shepherds were needed, just in case the lamb had gotten itself into a spot of bother.
The shepherd didn’t want to be accused of mistreating his delicate lamb, so he went to a neighbouring farm and asked the shepherd there if he could have some help. His neighbour listened to his problem, and then accused him of not thinking the situation through: how could he be so careless as to leave ninety nine sheep alone – especially when some of them were just lambs – in order to go searching for just one? Perhaps he should just cut his losses and get on with his duties for the others. After all, he could have faith that God would make sure the lost little lamb was safe...
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