A Not-So-Good Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd. . ." MacGillicuddy read. "Hmm," he thought, "I wonder what that means?"

"Hey Moms!" MacGillicuddy yelled, "What’s a shepherd?" There was no answer. "HEY MOMS!!!" MacGillicuddy ROARED!

A dark shadow filled MacGillicuddy’s room as the light from outside was completely blocked.

"WHAT’S ALL THE NOISE?!" MacGillicuddy’s mother roared right back.

"Oops, sorry Moms! Uh, I was reading in the Bible, and it said in Pusalem 23 . . ."

MacGillicuddy’s mother interrupted him, "Pusalem? I don’t know any part of the Bible called Pusalem?"

Mac pointed to his Bible, "Right here, Moms! Pusalem 23!"

Mrs. Monster looked and laughed. "Oh MacGillicuddy! English is such a hard language to read! You don’t say the ‘p’ sound, and the ‘l’ and ‘m’ just kind of go together. It’s pronounced ‘salm, ’ even though it is spelled p- s- a- l- m," she explained.

"OK, OK," MacGillicuddy replied. "But I haven’t even asked my question. It says that the Lord is my Shepherd. What’s a shepherd?"

"A shepherd," explained Mrs. Monster, "is someone who watches over a herd of sheep. A shepherd helps them find good grass to eat, water to drink, and keeps them safe so that they can have baby sheep. You know, lambs."

"WOW!" MacGillicuddy cried. "I love lambs! I especially love them roasted and served with mint jelly!"

MacGillicuddy’s mother smiled. "Yes, Mac, you are always a hungry monster. Don’t you think about anything besides eating?"

"Sure Moms! There’s playing, and sleeping, and goofing off, and and having fun, and . . ."

"Do you have any other questions Mac? Or can I go back to my work now? It’s not easy feeding hungry monsters like you and your father. I have a lot of work to do before dinner!"

"No, Thanks Moms!" As Mrs. Monster left the room, MacGillicuddy started thinking. "If I was a shepherd, I could get lots and lots of lambs. Then we could eat some of my favorite food all the time! I’ll do it!!!"

MacGillicuddy went to his piggy bank and shook out ALL his money! Then he went down to the farmer and asked how many sheep he could buy with his money. The farmer scratched his head and carefully counted the money.

"Well, I guess there’s about enough for three sheep there, son."

"Great!" cried MacGillicuddy. "Now I can be a shepherd."

MacGillicuddy tried to take his sheep up the road, but they kept going to the side to eat grass. No matter what he did, when he tried to get them to go one way, they always seemed to go another.

It took hours and hours, but finally MacGillicuddy got his sheep to the field that he wanted them to eat at.

But by the time they got there, the sheep were already full of grass, and didn’t want to eat anymore. They kept saying "Baaa! Baaa!" MacGillicuddy decided that maybe they were thirsty. He thought and thought. Finally, he decided to take them over to the stream for a drink.

It had just rained yesterday, and the stream was very full, and the water was very fast. But the sheep were very thirsty, so they ran to the stream and FELL IN! Down the stream they went, around the bend out of sight!

"Oh No!" said MacGillicuddy, and he began to cry. Slowly he went home, crying all the way for his lost sheep, making a pretty big stream of his own! When he got home, his father was there.

"What’s the matter, Mac? What’s wrong?"

MacGillicuddy explained how he read about God being our shepherd, and how he wanted to be a shepherd. He wanted to have lots of lambs. He told his father everything about how he got the lambs and then lost them.

"Well Mac, I think you forgot part of that psalm!" said his father.

"What do you mean?" MacGillicuddy asked.

"Look at verse 2. It says ’He leads me beside quiet waters.’ Was the stream quiet?" Mr. Monster asked.

"Oh no, Pops! It was very loud and noisy!" MacGillicuddy answered.

"That’s right! So you took your sheep to a dangerous place, and they got hurt as a result. Isn’t it a good thing that God is a better shepherd than you are? God always tries to lead us to places that are safe for us. We get into trouble when we try to go our own way, and don’t do what God says that we should do."

Just then the phone rang. Mrs. Monster called out, "MacGillicuddy! It’s for you! The farmer down the road wants to talk to you."

MacGillicuddy talked to the farmer, and then hung up. He went back to his parents and said, "Guess what! That stream took the sheep right back to the farmer who sold them to me. He’s going to raise them for me, and then when they have lambs he said that I could have half of them, and he would keep half of them."

"That's great!" said Mr. Monster. "This way you can watch him and see how the Lord cares for us in the way the farmer will take care of those sheep."

"I guess I wasn’t such a good shepherd, huh Pops?" MacGillicuddy asked.

"Well, Mac," his father replied, "I guess I would have to say that you did a MONSTROUS job!"

MEMORY VERSE Ps 23:1-2 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters. Ps 23:1-2 MacGillicuddy learned that being a shepherd means taking very good care of sheep. God takes very good care of us just as if we were His special sheep. Memorize this verse to remember how much God cares for you!