Shearing Sheep

Shearing the sheep was a big deal around the McMillian ranch. It only happened once a year, and Landon loved watching his dad and some of the hired hands shear the sheep. Landon was always fascinated with how still the sheep would stay as they were turned onto their backs. They seemed so relaxed. Once the shearing was done, the sheep were led back out to the pasture, and the wool was gathered up into big bags and sent off to the mill to be cleaned and processed. Soon the wool would be dyed into many different colors and turned into beautiful pieces of clothing and other items. The sheep were always so full of energy after they had that heavy wool taken off it was as if they were little lambs again."We got a good yield of wool this year," Dad told Landon's mom as they sat down for dinner.Dad prayed, and then Landon, talking so fast that Mom could hardly understand him, told her all about the exciting day of sheep shearing. "The dirty, heavy wool just came right off in big layers, and the sheep looked so clean, and it almost looked like they were smiling. They must be happy to have all that old wool off them.""You know, you're right, Landon, and that reminds me of us as Christians," Dad said."What do you mean, Dad?" Landon asked."Well, before we were saved, we were carrying the heavy load of our sin. But when we trusted in Jesus, He removed our sin and made us clean, and He gave us a new life. That means we need to throw off our old, sinful nature--the way we thought and acted before we knew Jesus--and put on our new nature. We do that by trusting the Holy Spirit to renew our thoughts and attitudes and make us more like Jesus.""That's really cool, Dad!"For the rest of the night, Landon thought about what his dad had said. He was so thankful that Jesus had forgiven his sins and washed them all away. Just like the sheep, Landon felt cleaner and lighter. Before going to bed, he prayed and asked the Lord to help him remember to let the Holy Spirit renew his attitude each day. -Lisa Fuller