Shrek the sheep got lost. For six years, the sheep from New Zealand was missing from his flock. For those six years, his fleece never stopped growing. The more it grew, the wilder he looked. His coat was so long, in fact, that the person who found him high on a mountaintop didn’t even know he was a sheep!

Shrek had to be carried down the mountain because his fleece was so heavy (sixty pounds) that he couldn’t walk on his own! Don’t worry: they sheared Shrek, so he could walk like a normal sheep again. Shrek is a picture of what can happen to a sheep separated from its shepherd.

Jesus talks a lot about sheep. In fact, He calls himself the Good Shepherd ( John 10:11), and He calls us His sheep. Many times, we act like Shrek the sheep. We want to do our own thing, so we wan- der off and stop listening to our Good Shepherd. But our choices can weigh us down—like Shrek’s sixty-pound fleece!

How do you stay away from that kind of trouble? Stay close to your Good Shepherd, Jesus.

Jesus, sometimes I like to wander off and do my own thing. Thank you for always welcoming me back! I love You and want to stay close to You, always.