SHEEP DON’T WALLOW

SHEEP DON'T WALLOW

Based on a Story by C. E. Henry (1960)

Scriptures Compiled by Daniel Courington

There is an old story about a lamb and its mother. It seems the lamb passed a pig pen each morning on the way to the pasture with its mother. Watching the pigs wallow in the mud seemed like fun, and on an especially hot day, the lamb asked the mother if he could jump the fence and wallow in the cool mud. She replied, "No." Then the lamb asked the usual question, "Why?" The mother just said, "Sheep don't wallow."

This did not satisfy the lamb. He felt she was not being fair, overreacting, and didn't have the right to tell him what he could or could not do! So, as soon as the mother was out of sight, the lamb ran to the pig pen and jumped the fence. He was soon feeling the cool mud on his feet, his legs, and soon his stomach. After a few moments, he decided he had better go back to his mother, but he couldn't. He was stuck! Mud and wool don't mix. His pleasure had become his prison. He cried out and was rescued by the farmer. When cleaned and returned to the fold, the mother said, "Remember, sheep don't wallow."

Sin is like that. It looks so nice, so inviting. We think we can escape from it any time we wish, but it is not always so. Sinful pleasures soon become prisons.

The moral of this story? Christians don't wallow!

Proverbs 1:10-16 My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. (11) If they say, "Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood; let us ambush the innocent without reason; (12) like Sheol let us swallow them alive, and whole, like those who go down to the pit; (13) we shall find all precious goods, we shall fill our houses with plunder; (14) throw in your lot among us; we will all have one purse"-- (15) my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, (16) for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, (20) for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Peter 2:24-25 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (25) For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Philippians 1:9-11 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, (10) so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.