Sheep among hungry wolves.

Jesus didn’t talk about having bigger houses, better cars, vacations, bank accounts, none of that. Jesus sent us out as sheep, among hungry wolves, a dangerous task indeed!

Wolves are hungry, always. They respect no limits. They attack and devour for their own benefit. They are sneaky, camouflaged, deceitful. They are strong, and run in packs, attacking together in orchestrated violence. And even when they have had their fill, they kill for fun.

And we are the sheep they want to eat.

That does not sound much like the message heard preached from many churches today! That sounds downright dangerous!

It is dangerous, if we aren’t near the shepherd. Sheep are safe near the shepherd, because wolves are afraid of the Shepherd. They know they would lose any confrontation with the shepherd, so they don’t dare.

Jesus is the good shepherd! He scares away the wolves from His presence, not ours. We stay safe so long as we stay in Jesus’ presence. Go off on our own, and we risk death. Stay near Him and we enjoy perfect peace. The shepherd protects the sheep.

We are sent to a hostile evil dangerous world. We spend our days watched by hungry angry wolves, yet… As long as we stay in Jesus’ presence there is no danger! Perfect peace and rest. It’s all Him, not us. When we start to think that we can withstand the wolves, that’s when we fail. Sheep can’t fight wolves. The shepherd does. Stay close to Jesus. Pray without ceasing, read the word, stay with the comforter, God’s Holy Spirit. Obey God’s laws, walk in the light. Do this and we have nothing to fear.

Jesus is the answer. He is our shepherd. The wolves fear Him. The darkness melts into glory in His presence. It is all Him.