Mrs.Gad-about
"I Shall Not Be in Want"
A Shepherd's Look at the 23rd Psalm by W. Phillip Keller
There are lessons to be learned in our everyday occurrences of life. Mr. Keller takes on the perspective of a shepherd, as he teaches some valuable lessons in his book first published in 1970. Chapter two is on contentment and insight about a sheep, named Mrs. Gad-about, from Keller's personal flock.
He writes: “This one ewe produced more problems for me than almost
all the rest of the flock combined.” She was always looking for a way out of
the fenced area. “With “Mrs. Gad-about” it was an ingrained habit. She was
simply never contented with things as they were. She taught her lambs the same tricks. They simply followed
her example and soon were as skilled at escaping as their mother. Even worse, however, was the example
she set for the other sheep…I finally came to the conclusion that to save the
rest of the flock from being unsettled, she would have to go. I could not allow
one obstinate, discontented ewe to ruin the whole ranch operation. It was a difficult decision to make,
for I loved her in the same way I loved the rest. Her strength and beauty and alertness were a delight to the
eye. But one morning I took the
killing knife in hand and butchered her…She was a sheep, who, in spite of all I
had done to give her the very best care, still wanted something else. She was not like the one who said, “The
Lord is my shepherd-I shall not be in want...
It is a solemn warning to the carnal Christian-backslider-
the half-Christian-the one who wants the best of both worlds.”
Contentment is a learned characteristic for humans, but the more we come to know our Shepherd the easier it is to be content. Praying that today each of us will be content with what God has on the agenda!
