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He Is Our Good Shepherd
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said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into
a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?” He is saying this because a
man there has a withered hand, a sickness, a disease, and He compares it to an animal in distress.
Many Christians will try to argue with you that it might not be God’s will to heal you all the
time. But if their little dog was tied up in a fence, or their little cat had fallen into a ditch, would
you ever see them go out there, kneel down by the fence, and pray, “Lord, now I know kitty
needs Your help, but I realize it might not be Your will to help kitty...”?
“I know my dog is hungry. I’ve seen him out there looking at the bowl for three days. But I’m
just not sure if it’s Your will. He’s sick. I see him out there lying and panting, and he needs help.
But I understand it might not be Your will for him to be healed.”
Why would that be any different than what Christians say they believe about God in church? Are
we not His sheep? Does He have a double standard? Is He going to reprove and correct
shepherds about not feeding the sheep and caring for the sick, and then He Himself not do it? If
we believe that it might not always be His will to heal, we ought to be consistent with our own
pets and livestock, shouldn’t we? We ought to pray, “I know my cow is in a ditch, but I’ve got to
see if it’s God’s will to get her out.” People laugh at that and say, “Oh, that’s ridiculous.” It’s not
any more ridiculous than you saying it might not be God’s will to heal you. These are not my
Words. Remember, I’m reading what Jesus said. I didn’t make this up. I’m reading what He said.
Verse 11 says if someone has a sheep, and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, will he not lay
hold of it and lift it out? “How much then is a man better than a sheep?” Then in verse 13, it
says, “Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was
restored whole, like as the other.” It was healed.
You have enough sense to feed your dog. You have enough sense to get your cat out of the fence
wire or the ditch. You have enough sense to get your pet out of the pit, and yet you try to sit up
in church and say it might not be God’s will to get you out of your problem and your mess.
That’s not the only time He said it. In Luke 13:15-16, when He healed the woman with the spirit
of infirmity, they got mad about it, and He said, “Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on
the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not
this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be
loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?” This is the second time He compared a person in
sickness to an animal in distress.
A third time is in Luke 14. There was a certain man who had the dropsy. This is someone who
was swollen with fluids. Verse 3 says, “And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and
Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took
him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which one of you shall have an
ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?” Three
times He compares people being sick to animals in distress, and says if you don’t hesitate over
helping animals in distress, you shouldn’t question if it’s God’s will for you to be healed or not!