If you want God to lead you, be willing to follow.

若祈求上帝的引导，就要全心地跟随。

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way. Isaiah 53:6

我们都如羊走迷，各人偏行己路。-以赛亚书53章6节

当我在北加纳和祖父同住的时候，每天都要帮忙放羊。我每早晨带它们去草场，直到傍晚再返回羊圈，那是我第一次体会到羊群是多么地顽固。譬如，每当它们看到一个农场，就会按照本能的驱使一股脑儿地往那里走，还几度造成我和农户之间的困扰。

One of my daily chores when I lived with my grandfather in northern Ghana was taking care of sheep. Each morning I took them out to pasture and returned by evening. That was when I first noticed how stubborn sheep can be. Whenever they saw a farm, for instance, their instinct drove them right into it, getting me in trouble with the farmers on a number of occasions.

有时，我不过暂时在树下纳凉，就发现羊群开始分头钻进树丛里，朝向山区前进。这迫使我必须追赶它们，且任由灌木丛刮伤我瘦弱的双腿。对我来说，要引领羊群免于危难实在不容易。更困难的是要防止盗贼，不让他们趁隙潜入草场，偷取落单的羊只。

Sometimes when I was tired from the heat and resting under a tree, I observed the sheep dispersing into the bushes and heading for the hills, causing me to chase after them and scratching my skinny legs in the shrubs. I had a hard time directing the animals away from danger and trouble, especially when robbers sometimes raided the field and stole stray sheep.

因此，我能理解先知以赛亚所说：「我们都如羊走迷，各人偏行己路」（53章6节） 。我们在许多方面常是如羊走迷：总是做上帝不喜悦的事；言行失当而伤害他人；因为过于忙碌或缺乏兴趣，而没有花时间亲近上帝和研读祂的话语。我们的行为就如同草场上的羊一般。

So I quite understand when Isaiah says, "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way" (53:6). We stray in many ways: desiring and doing what displeases our Lord, hurting other people by our conduct, and being distracted from spending time with God and His Word because we are too busy or lack interest. We behave like sheep in the field. 

可喜的是，我们有愿意为我们舍命的好牧人（约翰福音10章11节），祂担当我们的忧患和罪孽（以赛亚书53章4-6节） 。祂是我们的牧者，呼唤我们回到安全的草场，使我们能够更紧紧地跟随祂。

Fortunately for us, we have the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for us (John 10:11) and who carries our sorrows and our sins (Isa. 53:4-6). And as our shepherd, He calls us back to safe pasture that we might follow Him more closely.

我灵魂的大牧者啊，我有时候的确会走迷了路。
感谢祢总是来找寻我，带我回到祢身边。

Shepherd of my soul, I do wander at times. I’m grateful that You’re always seeking me to bring me back to Your side.

Read Isaiah 53:1-6 NIV

53 Who has believed our message
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
    and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
    nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.

整理：于姊妹