Instinctively following the shepherd

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10: 22-30)

Sheep instinctively follow their shepherd. Humans, on the other hand, are endowed with intelligence and will, and thus their actions are not determined by instinct alone. We may choose  good and be satisfied by God's desire for our eternal happiness. Or we can choose evil, deceptively seeking happiness in things of this earth that, in not being eternal, cannot fulfill this desire. Let us learn from the natural instincts of the sheep who follow their shepherd and trust Jesus, the Good Shepherd, more than themselves.