He guards them from their enemies, and if any wild beast comes against them, he is ready to give his life to protect them.
If the shepherd is away, and a hired man has to take care of them, the hireling runs away if he hears the roar of a wild beast, or even if he sees a storm coming.
But our Lord Jesus says to us, "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep." And Jesus wants the little lambs too, and "He carries them in His bosom."
In the 15th of Luke our Lord tells us about a shepherd who had a hundred sheep, who, when he counted them before he put them into the fold, found there was one missing.
But the shepherd would not lose his sheep for anything!
So he left his ninety-nine in the fold, and hastened away into the wilderness to find the one which was lost.
Over the rugged mountains; through the tangles and the briars; through the deep waters of the rushing stream, on he passed; and as he went, perhaps these words seemed to dwell in his very heart: "Until I find it!"
On he went, weary and worn, till at last he heard a faint cry.
Then the shepherd called, and stood listening for the answer. And again came that faint cry, and the shepherd knew that somewhere near him, his lost sheep was lying—lonely, helpless, and hopeless.
Then the shepherd saw beneath him, just at the edge of an awful precipice, the poor sheep caught in a tangled briar.