The Sheared Sheep

The Sheared Sheep

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

Heb. 12:11

Have you ever felt like the little sheep who was singled out and sheared to his very skin? I have been on both sides of this picture – as one who received the shearing by the Spirit of God until I felt naked and vulnerable, and as the one who administered the shearing to other sheep. It is a necessary part of raising sheep, but not always a pleasant duty. But later, when the fleece grows out again, the wool is soft and beautiful. This is the result of shearing.

The fleece or wool that is the coat of the sheep, must be cut off, sometimes so close that the little sheep appears to be naked. He shivers in his state of nakedness and looks quite ashamed and desolate.

Once a year, in early adulthood, the sheep is sheared or shorn by the shepherd, usually in the spring. The sheep are gathered into the shearing shed and the shepherd and his helpers get to work. Most sheep submit to this practice, but there are a few who resist with a bitter bleating. But if the shepherd is skilled, he can do the job quickly and painlessly – if the sheep submits that is.

But first, the sheep must be washed, made free from the burrs, vegetation, and dirt that tends to cling to the woolly coat. After carefully washing the sheep, a skillful shearer can cut the wool off quickly. Then the wool is marketable as ‘cleaned’ wool. Dirty fleece is harder to shear, more difficult for the sheep to endure, and dulls the cutting instrument of the shepherd.

I remarked to my shepherd husband last week, “You really cut close on that little sheep, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” he said, "it was a close shave, but then—he had gotten into a briar patch. He needed to be sheared.” Then he smiled. “But he just laid down and took it, then hopped up and went on his way.”

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Jesus said, “I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.”

John 10:11.