Last week I mentioned that I was going to post a different version of “All Like Sheep” today. What I didn’t tell you is the only difference is the length — eight stanzas (thanks to repeated lines) compared to two:
We’re all like sheep who’ve gone astray, (3X)
Lost in our best intentions.
We’ve nibbled our way down unknown paths, (3X)
In search of greener grasses.
The Good Shepherd found me And brought me back , (3X)
Though it cost His life to save mine.
And now I dwell in His Father’s fold, (3X)
And feed on His abundance.
His door is always open wide, (3X)
And everyone is welcome.
But few know where to find the fold, (3X)
And fewer still have entered.
That’s why I stand outside the door. (3X)
That’s why I share my story.
We’re all like sheep who’ve gone astray. (3X)
Come in, make this your home now.
Why did I write two songs with identical lyrics? I wish you could see me smiling at that question. Honestly? I just couldn’t see myself ever singing the longer version for anyone. So I wrote both at the same time.
Incidentally, I thought I would never finish recording this version, which you may listen to here. This lead sheet only includes the first four stanzas. It’s easy enough to fit the last four in if you should ever need to.
Jesus was familiar with Isaiah 53:7, which prophesied His crucifixion. Not as the Good Shepherd, however, but as the perfect sacrificial lamb who would provide mankind’s ultimate salvation from sin.
He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
Yet He takes the truth of Isaiah’s prophesy and combines it with His knowledge of Himself as the Good Shepherd in John 10:11.
“I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
In John 14:6 Jesus acknowledged Himself as the only way to come to the Father.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Doesn’t that make you think of the ultimate sheep fold? Heaven.
It seems that everyone wants to go to Heaven. But in the words of an old spiritual, “everybody talkin’ about heaven ain’t goin’ there.” Christians alone are assured of eternal life in Heaven because we’re Jesus’ sheep and we know He is the door to the fold. So how can we fail to stand “outside the door” and point the lost to Him?
I’m working on my twenty-fifth Christian novel, but progress is slow. Impractically Yours is one of my favorites; it’s actually a rewrite of my very first novel. Use the QR code on the graphic with the covers on it to access my Amazon Author Page.
Links you might be interested in:
As I Come Singing. . . 