L. O yes, mamma; we saw a shepherd that day you and papa took me a walk by the side of the wood.
M. Do you recollect how pleased you were to see the little lambs skipping about?
L. Yes; you told me to repeat the verse,
“Abroad in the meadows to see the young lambs,
“Run sporting about by the side of their dams,
“With fleeces so clean and so white.”
But, mamma, some of the little lambs have black faces; and, mamma, don’t you recollect, as we returned home, we met the shepherd, and he had got a little lamb in his arms, which had fallen into a pit and hurt itself. How kind the shepherd was in taking care of this little lamb!
M. The prophet Isaiah spoke of the Saviour many hundred years before he came from heaven, and compared him to a shepherd. In the 40th chapter, the prophet says, “He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom.”
L. But, mamma, I do not quite understand this; Christ is not now upon earth, and when he was here he did not keep sheep.
M. No, my dear; but it is to make us understand that our Lord takes care of his people, as the shepherd takes care of his sheep; and he does not forget children, as you saw the shepherd did not forget his lambs.
L. But who are his lambs?