Sheep Dogs, Sheep And The Shepherds

The story is told of a Pastor who took an extended vacation in Scotland.

While driving through the countryside he came across a shepherd working his sheep with a pair of sheep dogs. The Pastor stopped his travels and began to just sit and watch. The Pastor watched for a long time and was fascinated at how the dogs worked. The shepherd would simply use hand signals and the dogs would respond by moving and herding the sheep where ever the shepherd desired.

After awhile the Pastor asked how the shepherd was able to get the dog to work so hard and so effortlessly. The shepherd told him it was simply a reward system, when the dogs respond correctly they are given a reward and when they respond incorrectly there is no reward.

The Pastor turned to leave, mind reeling with application possibilities when the shepherd said that there was one more thing that he needed to know. The dogs needed to realize that the reward was never from the sheep only from the shepherd.

That statement hit the Pastor like a brick to the head. Pastors are the sheepdogs who work for, obey only and are rewarded by the Chief Shepherd. The eternal rewards never come from the sheep.

The applications are endless.

I Remain,
Pastor Steve