For several weeks in June and July, Ontario, Canadians were on the lookout for two escapees on their way to execution. The truck was hauling them along with others who were about to see their end in this world. While it’s not certain how the escape happened, the hunt was still on at the time of the writing of this devotional.
You may be wondering how this is possible since Canada abolished their death penalty in 1998. Well, I’m not talking about people. I’m talking about two sheep who escaped on their way to the slaughterhouse. “Lauren Edwards, owner of Charlotte’s Freedom Farm in Dresden, said she was alerted to the presence of a sheep at the side of the E.C. Row Expressway on July 6, and she soon learned sightings of the animal[s] had been taking place for at least two weeks.”1
Edwards started with a team of 10 one day and they were unable to capture the sheep. The next day, 40 volunteers arrived to help but to no avail. Sheepdogs were going to be used, however, it was feared that the dogs might chase the sheep on to a busy highway, getting the dogs and the sheep killed.
If and when the animals are captured, they will not be going to the slaughterhouse. They will be rehomed at Edwards’ animal shelter, a sanctuary for lost, crippled, or homeless animals. Now, if only someone could learn to speak sheep, they could tell the sheep that they were okay, and the people were there to rescue them.
This little story out of Canada sure has some great Biblical applications for everyone in this world. Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way…” God describes humanity as sheep, deserving to go to an eternal slaughter. Our future is grim. Deep down, people know this and they will try to escape, looking for their own way to save themselves.
But what if there was a way for those sheep to escape the slaughter and enter into a sanctuary? If only there was someone – Someone — who could speak sheep.
Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Jesus took on flesh and blood. He became a sheep so that He could communicate to the sheep and tell them that there was a place of safety. Rather than going to a sanctuary, there was a way for them to become a sanctuary.
In Exodus 25:1-2, 8, we read, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering… (8) And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Today, when we trust Jesus Christ as our Savior, we become that sanctuary, a holy place for the Lord to live and reign. We are secure in Christ and the eternal death sentence commuted.
How much does Jesus want to add sheep to His pasture. Let me close with this familiar parable. “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, 
until he find it? (5) And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (6) And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. (7) I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:4-7)
1https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2024/07/10/canada-loose-sheep-Ontario-EC-Row-Expressway/6261720639985/
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