Lambs

I love lambs.  Really. Love. Them.    For the love of lambs I go out on winter mornings to feed ewes in 20 degree (F) weather. For the love of lambs I haul 60 gallons of water down to the pasture in 5 gallon buckets. For love of lambs I pitchfork 20 loads of manure out of the corral in the spring.   For the love of lambs. Lambs make it all worthwhile. Watching lambs leap and frolic in the greening pasture brings joy comparable to that of watching one’s own children investigate wildflowers in a mountain meadow.   I love lambs.

One of the reasons I love lambs is that they symbolize spring and all the wonders it brings….tree buds, apricot blossoms, daffodils, softer, gentler air and sunny, shirt-sleeve afternoons...and hope.   Spring brings hope. Hope for warmth and light and love. Lambs bring hope too. Hope for growth and life and love.   

And right now we need hope.    I don’t need to say why. The turmoil and tumult and trepidation of our current situation are as obvious as is the need for hope.    There is hope in lambs. There is hope in spring. One could say that hope springs from lambs. I can say, without hesitation, that hopes spring from the Lamb.   In fact, it spouts from Him, pours from Him, floods from Him.

The Lamb of God, even Jesus Christ, is the fountain of hope.   He is our hope for the future and He is our hope in the present.   “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28)    

We can’t all have lambs but we all have access to the Lamb  Look to the Lamb. Hear Him!

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Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd

1. Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the sheep of his fold;
Dear is the love that he gives them,
Dearer than silver or gold.
Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are his "other" lost sheep;
Over the mountains he follows,
Over the waters so deep.

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(Chorus)
Out in the desert they wander,
Hungry and helpless and cold;
Off to the rescue he hastens,
Bringing them back to the fold. 



2. Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the lambs of his fold;
Some from the pastures are straying,
Hungry and helpless and cold.
See, the Good Shepherd is seeking,
Seeking the lambs that are lost,
Bringing them in with rejoicing,
Saved at such infinite cost.



3. Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the "ninety and nine";
Dear are the sheep that have wandered
Out in the desert to pine.
Hark! he is earnestly calling,
Tenderly pleading today:
"Will you not seek for my lost ones,
Off from my shelter astray?"



​4. Green are the pastures inviting;
Sweet are the waters and still.
Lord, we will answer thee gladly,
"Yes, blessed Master, we will!
Make us thy true under-shepherds;
Give us a love that is deep.
Send us out into the desert,
Seeking thy wandering sheep."
Songwriters: William J. Kirkpatrick