Amanda A.B. Wallace, an associate professor of the department of English, talked about sheep as a metaphor for listening to the voice of the shepherd Jesus Christ at a devotional on May 19, 2015.
First, she talked about the characteristics of sheep: they have great peripheral vision, strong herding instinct, prefer being with groups, and have a docile or submissive nature.
Second, she talked about how to recognize and follow the voice of the shepherd.
For this point, she gave the following suggestions:
- We can follow the shepherd through our daily prayers, studying the scriptures and messages of the Holy prophets and modern-day revelation which are given.
- Next, put efforts into our actions, like keeping the Sabbath Day holy, partaking of the Sacrament, attending the temple, and obeying the Lord’s commandments.
- Last, always remember to follow Jesus Christ, our good shepherd.
Rachel Agaleli Stone, a junior from Alaska majoring in ICS shared her thoughts about this devotional, summarizing the whole thing.
- “We are not only sheep, but we are called to feed and comfort the Lord’s sheep. If we love God we will spend our time to ‘feed’ the lord’s sheep.
- We covenant with God at baptism to comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and lift the hands that hang down.
- Look to save. We don’t know what our brother and sisters are going through, or what spiritual, emotional, or mental situation they are going through. Serve with love, patience, meekness and understanding.
- Heed the voice of the good Shepherd.”
Katie Grayson, a junior from Texas majoring in ICS said, “ I enjoyed that Sister Wallace talked and shared many different applications of the Savior’s parable of sheep and a good shepherd. Not only should we be obedient sheep to our savior, but also we should seek to be a good shepherd to family members, our visiting teachers and anyone who needs us to help and take care of them.”
Lana Vai, a freshman from Tonga majoring in ICS shared her thoughts. “In the talk, Sister Wallace mentioned several important suggestions, like the Lord expects us to think, devotion, and action. Also, there was a point when she said the sheep will have a hard time responding to its shepherd when their relationship is weak. So it inspires us to remember always keep our close relationship with our savior. That is important.”