I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:11)

I’m confessing one of my little “guilty pleasures” – I’m a gamer. Not a hardcore Xbox/Nintendo/Whatever gamer. But I love games on my PDA and my desktop computer. I discovered a new one today, and it has me thinking about a parable of Jesus. Crazy, huh?

The game is Farm Frenzy. You basically buy farm equipment and have quotas for eggs, milk, wool and such. But, there are little surprises along the way – bears! Now, how bears got on farms versus the wilderness, I have no idea – you’ll have to take it up with the Code Monkey who developed it (that’s geek speak for programmer –lest you thought I was calling someone out!).

After having sheep, geese, and a cat eaten by the bears, I was über-protective of them! I don’t know about you, but I talk to my computer (and my knitting, too!), and I kept “telling” the bears, “Not my sheep!”

It reminded me of the parable of The Good Shepherd in John chapter 10. Jesus used parables – earthly stories with a heavenly meaning – to impart spiritual truths. He used terms his listeners would understand. I’m not a farm girl. In fact, my country relatives used to tease me whenever I would visit them near the Ozark Mountains. Two of my uncles had farms, and while visiting one of them the summer that I was nine or ten, I remember saying, “Here cow, here cow” … to a horse! Something my Country Cousins didn’t let me live down for a long, long time.

So, clearly, I don’t get the some of agricultural references in the Scriptures in as much depth as those who are farmers, do. But, this game really helped me to understand the fierce protectiveness the Lord must have for us as His children. Now, don’t get me wrong, God’s love is far deeper than anything I could feel for an onscreen avatar! But, it made me appreciate the God’s wisdom in using parables that are accessible to the masses to understand His message.