Sheep or Goat?

Thursday 19 January
READ: Matt. 25: 32 – 46
MORE LESSON: Psalm 23:1 - 6

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Psalm 23 is a popular scripture that shows what the Good Shepherd has in store for His sheep. The blessings of the shepherd are for the sheep and not the goats. Goats make life difficult for the keeper but sheep are easy to lead. Goats are difficult to gather and lead while sheep are known for hearkening to the guidance and counsel of the shepherd. No parent wants children that are goats; such children are stubborn, rebellious, never at home and always causing trouble around the neighbourhood. Pastoring is problematic when goats are the ones gathered under you. It is a very worthy prayer for parents, leaders and pastors that those under you will not be goats but sheep.
I was surprised when I once saw a man taking pieces of water melon fruit with pen-knive and feeding them to a sheep. If you take water melon with knife and try to feed a goat, it will eat it all; water melon, knife and your hand. Psa 23: 1 – 2 says that the good Shepherd makes the sheep to lie down in green pasture. The problem with goats is that they never lie down in a place, even if the grass is green. They roam to someone else's house for foodstuff to steal and eat. The Good Shepherd willingly laid down his life for the sheep but the goats kill their keeper by the stress they give him. Sheep lie down in green pastures.
This talks about sustained relationship between the sheep and Shepherd. As sheep maintains good relationship with the shepherd; a sheep in the sheepfold of God also maintains good contact and relationship with the under-shepherd that the Great Shepherd has placed over him. This means that a sheep has good relationship and contact with God and with his/her pastor. Goats are not in good relationship with the fold; they don't lie down; they always wander around. Sheep stay with other sheep in the flock while goats roam solo. A believer, who isolates himself from the shepherd and the sheepfold, is becoming a goat and satan is at the verge of destroying such.
A church member who is always complaining about the church and not contributing his quota to the development and progress of the church is not a sheep. One who only subtracts from the church and does nothing to add is a goat; he is not useful to the church, he has become useless. I pray that you will be relevant and useful in your home, church, workplace and nation. In today's text, we see that the Kingdom of God is for the sheep and not goats. Jesus kept the sheep by the right hand side and the goats by the left. The goats were marked for eternal damnation. I pray that you will be a sheep and not a goat.

Prayer/Action
* Ask God for grace to be a sheep-like Christian, in Jesus’ name.
* Ask God to separate you from habits that can question your faith, in the mighty name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
I prophesy, lines will fall to me in pleasant places in glorious heritage, in the name of Jesus.