The Lord paints a beautiful picture of Himself as a Shepherd to His flock, Israel. He gives them peaceful pastures and protection in this prophecy through Ezekiel. He collects the lost, injured and weak and cares tenderly for them. Then the idyllic scene is interrupted. “But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!” Ohhh! Then, the Sovereign Lord says: “I will surely judge between the fat sheep and the scrawny sheep. For you fat sheep pushed and butted and crowded my sick and hungry flock until you scattered them to distant lands.” Those are some mean, fat sheep! Though the scrawny ones are sick or wandering or weak, they are the ones that are judged with mercy. Yet, the fat sheep are judged by their deeds, not their girth.
There is a distinct difference between hungry sheep, sick sheep, and greedy fat sheep. Maybe the hungry sheep are the faithful ones, trying to stay where they belong, longing for the Shepherd to lead them to good pasture. They are the humble sheep, praying for those that are sick or lost. They just want to be safe all together with their Shepherd. Knowing that our compassionate Shepherd is seeking after the scrawny ones provides us great hope when we are feeling down, ill, lost or injured. He wants us, even if we are in bad shape. Especially when we are in bad shape. We are wanted, loved, and sought after by our Shepherd. That takes us right back to the beautiful picture at the beginning. “I myself will tend my sheep and give them a place to lie down in peace,” says our Good Shepherd. ~ Baa baa, Tracy