Stay in the Pasture
Do you remember going on field trips when you were in school, or chaperoning your kids or grandkids on their field trips? Almost always, the teachers will have the kids buddy up, or choose a partner to stay with during the day to ensure no one gets lost or wanders off alone. Having parent volunteers helps the teachers keep better tabs on all the kids, which can be quite a feat.
The reason teachers rely on the buddy system is because there’s safety in numbers. As awful as it is, we live in a society with some deranged individuals who take pleasure in harming kids. If two or three kids are holding hands, or walking together, it’s much harder for a predator to abduct just one. With a parent present, it makes it even more difficult.
I recently found a quote that I’d saved on my phone. “The sheep that gets picked off by the wolf, is always the one who has distanced himself from the shepherd.” – Corky Calhoun. Sheep are not very wise animals and it is no secret that they will wander off, or they get so engrossed with grazing that their flock wanders off. They are a dependent animal, thus the need for a shepherd.
In John 10:14-15, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me; just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” Obviously, we are the sheep and we find protection when we remain in the pasture with the Shepherd. But like the quote states, when we distance ourselves from the Shepherd, we risk being picked off by the wolf…who in our case is Satan.
The devil comes to steal, kill an destroy, but his tactics work best when we’re alone. When we “remain in the pasture,” we’re around other sheep, which makes it much harder for him to attack. I believe the ‘the pasture’ refers here to the church. Even though we may not be ‘in church’ 24/7, we are connected with like-minded people who can rally around us, lift us up or help us in a time of need. It’s when we let our mind wander and we lose sight of Jesus that Satan sets out to destroy us.
There’s safety in numbers. Stay in the pasture with the other sheep.