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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