ARE YOU A LION OR A SHEEP?

One day a farmer was walking back from the forest. He came across a little lion cub. So, he brought the lion cub back home, gave it milk, water, some food. Didn’t know what to do with it, put it with all the sheep that he had. Well, every day this kept happening, where he would give him the food, play with him a little bit and then when the time came, he would put it with the sheep. Time came, cub grew a little big bigger. Started going out in the fields, playing with the sheep, playing with the lambs. One day, a real big lion came out of the jungle. And when the sheep heard the roar, they all scrambled hiding wherever they could, because they were afraid. The lion that had grown up with the sheep also did the same. The big lion stepped out of the forest seeing this lion trying to hide. Came over to him and said, Why are you hiding? He said, “You will eat me.” The big lion said, “I am not going to eat you. Do you know who you are? Do you know that you are not a sheep, you are a lion.” “Whatever, whatever you say is fine with me, but please don’t eat me.” Having seen, that this lion was not going to be convinced, the big lion took the little lion to a lake. And said, “Look at yourself, look at this reflection and see what you see.” And when the little lion looked at his reflection he said, “I am like you. Not like them.” The big lion said, “Right, you are a lion.” So, the little lion said, “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you so much.” And the lion said, “Why are you thanking me? I didn’t do anything. All I did, is showing you who you already were. I didn’t create something new here. I didn’t take a sheep and turned it into a lion. I took a lion and showed the lion, that you are a lion, not a sheep.”

  So many people are living and dying with gifts and talents never tapped into. Strengths that were never utilized. So many people unfulfilled and living up to man’s standards. Believing what others have labeled them instead of believing what God says about them. This issue has so much to do with your surroundings. The people you surround yourself with, the culture, your job, your church, your relatives, and society in general have all been very good at letting us know who we are and unfortunately, we tend to believe them. Scripture after scripture God tells us How He views us, that He has put something inside of us that is bigger than what we can currently see. God says to Gideon in Genesis 6, "you mighty man of valor" after Gideon tells God that he is from the weakest tribe of Israel. See Gideon was convinced who he was until the Lion of the tribe of Judah told him who he really was. I love the part of the story where the jungle lion tells the confused lion, “I didn’t take a sheep and turned it into a lion. I took a lion and showed the lion, that you are a lion, not a sheep.” Sometimes in order to see your lion you might need to leave the sheep, whatever that maybe. But whatever that is God is calling you out. He has justified you, then sanctified you. This means He has set you apart. He sees what He has created in you and your value to Him is awesome. Take a minute and examine yourself, examine those around you, examine your influences, then talk with God. He is eager to reveal to you your true identity. If those around you aren’t speaking to the lion but still speaking to the sheep, it is time to leave the herd and go surround yourself with lions.