Tending the Flock

"Good morning, Hendrick," Ivan said to his lamb as he entered the fenced enclosure. "C'mon. I'll brush your nice wooly coat. You're going to win that blue ribbon at the fair in a couple of weeks." Ivan got busy and groomed Hendrick until his mother called him for lunch. "Hendrick is going to win that blue ribbon, Mom. I just know it," Ivan said as he bit into his sandwich. Mom smiled. "He just might," she replied. "By the way, have you talked to Sebastian to see if he'll be going to church with us tomorrow?"Ivan shook his head. "No, but he got saved last week, so it doesn't matter." He went out the door. "I'm going to see what Hendrick's up to." When Ivan reached the enclosure, he saw that the gate had been left open and the lamb was gone. "Mom!" he called as he ran to the house. "Hendrick got out! Will you help me find him?" Mom came quickly, and together they searched for Ivan's lamb. "Hendrick! I was worried sick!" Ivan said when they found him in a nearby field--right in the middle of thorny vines with burrs that got stuck in his coat. "I had you all cleaned and brushed. Now look at you!" Mom stood and eyed the lamb. "Just because Hendrick is clean and brushed doesn't mean your work with him is done. He's still growing and learning." Mom looked at Ivan. "He reminds me of your friend Sebastian." "Sebastian?" Ivan was puzzled. "What do you mean? I don't think he's going to go out in a field and get burrs in his hair." "Hendrick needs care and guidance even after he's been brushed and fed," Mom explained. "And Sebastian--even after he's saved--needs care and guidance too. He needs to be around people who can remind him of God's love and forgiveness and guide him in his Christian life. Jesus doesn't leave us on our own after He washes our sins away and makes us new--He continues to care for us and teach us throughout our lives. One way He does that is through other Christians." Ivan nodded slowly. "I'll bike over to Sebastian's and ask him to go to church with us--as soon as I get this lamb back in his pen!" -Dolores A. Lemieux