A friend of mine told me a story about an experience he had in Israel.

They were in the country visiting some of the famous Biblical sites when they were near a group of sheepherders. There was a round pen used to bring the sheep into for the night. A shepherd brought his flock into the pen for the night. Then, a few minutes later, another shepherd brought his flock into the pen. Then, a few minutes later, yet another shepherd brought his sheep into the pen. Now there were three groups of sheep in the pen with no identifying marks among any of the them. My friend wondered how in the world they would separate their sheep in the next day.

The next morning a shepherd came over to the pen and made a comment to his sheep. One by one the sheep filed out to follow him. Only his sheep followed his voice. My friend said it was an amazing scene to see only that shepherd’s sheep follow him and the others remain in the pen.

Excerpted with permssion from the book TGIF Today God Is First, by Os Hillman, copyright 2000, Destiny Image Publishers, Reprinted by permission. For free daily email subscription to TGIF Today God Is First marketplace meditations, visit www.marketplaceleaders.org (Os Hillman)