The Shepherd presented Himself before
His flock as He does every day.
And He asked a question - as He does every day:
"Who is ready to go up to "Higher Ground"?"
 
A little lamb with a beautiful coat of wool
stepped forward and said,
"I am ready, my Lord."
"What are thy qualifications?" He asked.
 
"I have sought Thee with a whole heart.
I have tried to be a witness in my church,
in my home,in public and in private," she said.
 
He looked at her and said,
"Thou art ready. Yet, there are
infected places in thee that cannot live
in the heights of 'Higher Ground'."
 
She looked at her pretty little coat and said,
"Infected places, my Lord?"
He said, "Wait, I will show you."
He removed from her the little coat
of righteousness and laid it aside.
But, even then, she looked and could
but see smooth skin.
The Shepherd picked up an instrument of surgery.
Now, God's instruments of surgery are different
from ours. HIS instruments are relatives
and friends, neighbors, circumstances, pressures,
sicknesses, burdens, situations.
 
He plunged the instrument deep into the
infected places - and the stench that arose therefrom
was so terrible that it drove her to her knees.
She said, "What is THAT, my Lord?"
 
He said, "That is fear, and it must come out."
And He cut out the infected part and laid it
in the grave that she had not noticed beside their feet.
He continued to cut, and brought out each thing - anger,
resentment, bitterness, etc. - until all that was left
was the little coat of righteousness
and a broken heart and downcast eyes.
She then saw the nail-pierced
hands reach for the little coat of righteousness.
"Surely not that, too, my Lord?", she asked.
 
"Yes, that, too, for it was born in thy strength, my child,
and not from thy weakness."
He took the broken heart, wrapped it with the little coat of
righteousness and laid them in the grave.
 
And had her eyes not been downcast,
she would have seen the joy on the Shepherd's face.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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