Living With Purpose
While attending an arts festival several years ago I noticed two paintings on large canvases. They were
impressive due to their size and intricate details. But it was the contrasting elements that caught my eye
the most. They were both sheep pictures. The first one was a summer scene with a beautiful landscape
that stretched as far as the eye could see. It was a great restful valley, with a lazy stream winding its
peaceful way through the meadow. In the foreground and on the hillside, stood a flock of sheep; some
grazing and a few resting. The sun was shining and the shepherd seemed to be cooling himself under the
shade of a tree. A cattle dog was also sitting by the tree; a little more alert than his master. In the whole
scene, there wasn’t one element of discord to break the harmony of it. My reflective spirit began to
murmur the sweet words: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want, he maketh me to lie down in green
pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:1-2).
There was another painting beside it. Perhaps it had been painted as a companion piece. But I noted
it was by a different artist. It was a sheep picture, but had a much different scene. It portrayed a flock of
sheep that had been caught out in the pasture in a snowstorm. It wasn’t a gentle falling snow, like a
feather might fall from a bird in flight, it was what you would imagine a blizzard to be; the wind raging
and blowing fiercely. The clouds looked angry. The whirlwinds were piling the snow in banks around a
few shrubs and a lonely tree. When you looked closely into the sheep’s eyes you could see a look of fear.
The shepherd was nowhere to be found on the landscape. Perhaps I thought, he had already perished.
But near them were two shepherd dogs. One was a smaller one and he was standing in front of the
other with his head between the larger dog’s forelegs, trying to escape the cold, bitter slap of the wind.
The bigger dog stood there strong and faithful. Any art enthusiast will tell you, when you view a painting,
you imagine what the artist is trying to convey. To me, the position of his stance and the look on the
bigger dog’s face seemed to say to the poor sheep: “I can’t do much for you. No dog could get you home
through this awful storm, but I won’t desert you. I’ll stand by and keep you company and if need be, I will
die with you.”
But in the distance the artist revealed the deeper meaning of this picture. A huge wooden cross stood
tall with a pile of rocks around its base. I thought to myself, thank God the Cross of Jesus Christ can do
more than that for us! We all come into this world as poor lost sinners, and often go astray like these
poor sheep lost in the storm. But Christ didn’t leave lofty Heaven, where he enjoyed eternal joy, and tell
us: “I can’t do much for you. I don’t know how to get you out of the storm and bring you back to your
heavenly home. I’m sorry and I’ll stay here with you, and if I can’t do anything else, I’ll die with you.” That
would be a heroic narrative from Jesus at best, wouldn’t it?
But Jesus did a much better thing than that for us. He was rich and yet for our sakes, he became poor,
and gave his life not that he might die with us only, but that he die for us, and bear our sins in his own
body on the Cross. Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd; I know my own sheep and they know me, just
as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15). Are
you in his flock? Can you be counted as one of God’s children? Embrace God and His wonderful love. In
the most fearful storms you have to face, His love will save your life!
This bi-weekly column is written by Matthew Dobson. He’s a teacher, U.S. Army Chaplain, and the
Pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church in the New York Community. His latest book, “Loving Others with
Purpose” will be published soon! Just in time for Valentine’s Day. His other nine books can be purchased
on Amazon.com. You can contact him at: rmdobson@liberty.edu.
Posted by North Santa Rosa
on Jan 12 2017. Filed under Church News, Churches, Living With Purpose, Local, Top News.
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