All We Like Sheep

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."

A message of hope, the sheep are forgiven for straying, a scapegoat was found. What turned the sheep away? "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep." Wolves scatter the sheep, hirelings let it happen, if the sheep had their own shepherd it never would have happened.

Sheep need to be led, shown where good, safe feeding is, they are made to follow. When the sheep aren't watched they stray and are easy prey to wolves. "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." The world is full of wolves and if we're not smart, don't look out for ourselves, we're going to be scattered. But we're still sheep, it's what we were designed to be, and so we still have to remain true to our natures, simple, innocent, easily led. How does that happen? "the sheep follow him: for they know his voice." By learning to listen to the right voices and by being intelligent enough not to take everything at face value, by learning to figure things out for ourselves.