Lord Make Me A Sheep Dog

Being a help to the shepherd is important because it achieves the main goal which is helping the flock. The church or the bride of Christ is the most important work on the face of the earth. And no, the church is not a building or a structure but a living, breathing, body of believers that needs to be cared for. The church is where sinners hear about salvation and where the believer receives the reproof, rebuke and exhortation he needs to be a better Christian fit for God’s use. The reason there are not more sheepdogs in churches is because folks do not realize the importance of the work. Souls hang in the balance between Heaven and Hell. Every service maybe your only opportunity of saving that lost boy or girl or that back-slid mom or dad. That is why the sheepdog does his best to keep the flock together. He realizes that if everyone is headed in a different direction then no one will get fed and one may even get hurt. He does everything in his power to get them to listen to the shepherds calls and his warnings!

As the shepherd leads the flock to the green pastures, the sheepdog follows behind the flock using its speed and its nose to keep the flock together. If some start to sway to the left he quickly puts his nose in the way and promotes them to stay together and keep following the shepherd. If one strays from being faithful to the things of God then our duty as sheepdogs is to put ourselves in between them and the world in love! Remember the sheepdog is never there to bite or growl at the sheep. The rod is not a tool for the sheepdog but is only to be used by the shepherd. Hey, young preacher, maybe the reason you do not get the opportunities to preach that you want is because you spend too much time biting and not enough time helping! Gal 6:1 says “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” Oh how churches would flourish if church members would remember there is a big difference between demolition and restoration. “Ye which are spiritual” is not a recommendation but a commandment from Paul. If you are ever going to help your church you must first be right with God! We must understand that our service as a sheepdog is to be a constant help to our shepherd and the flock!

2. THE SECURITY OF THE SHEEPDOG (IS 56:10) “His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.”

The second job of the sheepdog is to provide security to the sheep and shepherd. Although I believe this is the most important service that the sheep dog provides, churches today are full of “dumb dogs” that “cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” As Christians, we need stand up for our church, pastor and Bible. Because of previous generations refusing to stand and bark for what is right, marriage is now undefined, prayer and Bible have been removed from our children’s schools and the sermons are as watered down and confusing as they have ever been. Oh, that the sheep dogs everywhere would wake up, stand up, bark and even bite back at this modern-day, mealy-mouthed, cold, dead, dry form of religion that refuses to denounce sin, promote righteousness and even preach the grace of God in salvation, plus nothing minus nothing! Its time that our sheepdogs quit yapping like little Chihuahuas and start barking like German shepherds at that crowd that wants to damage our flock, deceive our shepherd and decimate our little lambs! There are three quick things that a good sheepdog must bark at…