The Great Shepherd and His Sheep
" Ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." — II Peter 2:25 [KJV] Scripture allusions continually remind us, "that salvation is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God who sheweth mercy:" therefore, not unto us, not to our free will, but to Thy free grace, O Lord, be all the glory . Like that poor silly creature, a sheep, we naturally stray into all kind of danger, but are unapt to return of ourselves. We never should unless the shepherd sought us. "We have turned every one to his own way," have lost ourselves in the wilderness of sin, are wounded by the wolf of prey, blinded by pride, self-will, and self-righteousness. We delight in our distance from the good Shepherd. We please ourselves in feeding on carnal lusts and sensual vanities, while our poor souls are in a starving, perishing condition. Unparalleled love! the sheep's wounds are healed by the Shepherd