YOU'LL NEVER LOSE BY GIVING

I read Michelle's post where she quoted an older woman saying that to be happy we should, "Live simply, GIVE MORE, and expect less." I thought about the sheep. We know that God calls us His sheep. We are so much like sheep because we are prone to go astray and we cannot live successfully without our Shepherd. But, there is something else about sheep that we don't often think about.

Did you know that of all the animals in the world, the sheep is the GREATEST GIVER? All year the faithful sheep grows its wool, not for itself, but to GIVE AWAY. Once, or twice a year, the sheep is brought before the shearer where all its wool is completely shorn off. It doesn't give grudgingly, but submissively and willingly. Isaiah 53:7 says that Jesus, the Lamb of God is "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth."

My father, Ivan Bowen who has now passed away, designed the way shearing is performed across the world and was the fastest shearer in the world in "his day." He and his brother, Sir Godfrey Bowen promoted the wool industry across the world. I love what my uncle wrote in His book, "Why! the Shepherd."

"How impressive the sight of the giving sheep. The soft, valuable wool, contributed so willingly by the humble sheep, who, when shorn, stripped bare, and a little cold, has given all that it has to give. What a wonderful sacrifice! And once made, the sheep is off again, away on the range to grow it all over again ... The sheep makes no fuss, waits for no compliments for its wondrous fleece, because it has given as a sheep has always given, because this is what it was born for, this is what it lives for: to give willingly all that it has ... The more we give, the more we receive. The more we give away, the more that comes back to us. The more we serve, the more we grow in happiness, contentment, and peace of soul."

Dear mother, as one of God's sheep, you were born to sacrifice, born to give, born to give your all. And when you have given again and again you grow in spirit and refresh to give more. This is the life of the sheep. And can I tell you a little secret? You will never lose by giving. You'll never live to the full by pampering yourself! You find your life by giving. Jesus gives us an eternal principle for ultimate living in Mark 8:35, "Whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."

Blessings from Nancy Campbell