It was the middle of November, so it was perfectly normal to see grocery bags filled with turkeys. But the turkeys I was looking at would not be on a Thanksgiving table. They were on a stage, ready to perform. Or so we thought, until we discovered a bit of a problem. The sacks they wore as costumes were so stiff they couldn’t bend down and pick up their props. Instead of getting what they needed themselves, they had to wait on their teacher to give them the right thing at the right time.
People are a lot like paper bag turkeys. I think Jesus might have used that analogy, except there were no paper bags back then, so no one could say, “Why not turn these sacks into turkey costumes and put it on Pinterest?”
That being the case, and even though many of us may or may not have been called turkeys, Jesus compares us to a different animal. He calls us sheep.
What a message that is for us because, if any animal is able to do less than a turkey in a sack, it’s a sheep. They’re helpless creatures in need of a shepherd. So are we.
Thankfully, we have one. Psalm 23 says, “The Lord is my shepherd. I have everything I need.” We believe that’s true, yet there are times it doesn’t feel true.
That’s when we learn that even helpless sheep have a body part that can hold things. It’s called the heart. There we can carry treasures like thankfulness, hope, and joy.
But we live in a broken world where circumstances can cause our hearts to fill with painful things like discouragement, bitterness, and fear.
That is why, when we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us.
(Romans 5:6)
We needed a savior and our shepherd always gives us what we need.
It turns out there is one thing sheep can do that turkeys in paper bags cannot. Sheep can kneel. They do that because it brings relief from pain caused by debris that is stuck in their hooves.
It’s the same for us. The debris stuck in our hearts can lead us to kneel before our shepherd, seeking sweet relief from pain. Kneeling reminds us he is in control. And even though we may not feel like we have everything we need, we can trust that we do because he gave himself.
He also gave us children. And if you ever have a chance to hear them sing songs of thanksgiving, while wearing paper bags, don’t miss it. It will be a treasure to hold in your heart.