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Begin by reading Psalm 23
Throughout Scripture, us people are often referred to as sheep. Why? Well, sheep tend to follow. In fact, sheep have been known to follow other sheep around trees, creating a non-stopping cycling circle. Or sheep have also been known to follow another sheep right off the side of a cliff. Suddenly being referred to as sheep doesn’t seem very flattering.
The truth is we can be like sheep. The adage “monkey see, monkey do” can sometimes apply to our lives. However, in Romans 12:2, Paul tells us to break the pattern – to stop the endless, mindless cycle of following someone around the tree.
You’ve no doubt heard someone say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” Well, we as Christians should not follow this motto. There are patterns in this world; we can see them. There’s patterns of greed, lust, gluttony, self-pity, and the list goes on and on. We see the person who overworks, doesn’t spend time with his family, goes into debt by buying more than he can afford. When that keeps happening around us, that’s called a pattern. That’s sheep following sheep, and Paul says, “don’t follow what they’re doing.”
Sometimes it can be difficult to identify patterns that happen right in our own culture. The other day someone shared with me that often times people drown their lives with all sorts of activities like soccer practice and so forth and neglect spending time with other believers. The difficult thing about this is that it seems so common in our culture to run kids from one practice to another and swamp our lives with all sorts of activities, that it’s difficult for us to identify this as a possible pattern to avoid.
This is why it’s so important to be focused on the Lord. When we live lives of worship, we quickly begin to see the mind of Christ. Having the Spirit give us that insight helps us to identify harmful patterns that we should avoid. It may mean that we aren’t like other people or families. That’s okay. We’re not supposed to be. Those sheep don’t know who their following or where that path will lead. Our eyes are on our shepherd, and He gives us abundant life.
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