Sheep in Dakar

Stage 10 of the 2018 Dakar Rally is one stage that a few riders would like to forget.

Kevin Benavides started the day looking promising for an overall win, and so did a few others, like Australia's Toby Price.   It didn't go well though, as Benavides and others took a wrong turn and followed a river bed 10 km off the route.  By the time they retraced their steps, they lost almost 50 minutes to the new leader Matthias Walkner from the KTM Factory Team.

How did it go so wrong?

One rider took an incorrect turn into a desert river bed, and the others followed him like sheep.


There's a biblical principle at work here:

All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.  Is. 53:6

Dirt Rider magazine said it tongue-in-cheek like this:

"Former MX3 world champion Matthias Walkner used an old enduro rider’s trick in winning stage 10 and jumping to the top of the overall standings by almost 39 minutes. He slowed down to verify that he was going the correct way."

He slowed down to verify that he was going the correct way!

Walkner told reporters that he felt uncomfortable not following the other riders, but he was confident that he was going the right way.  Sometimes it is hard not following the crowd, but the long-term outcome is better!  In the bible, Matthew describes it as the broad way and the narrow way:

The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.  Matt. 7:13(b)-14

Is life going so fast that you miss an important turn?   Are you deliberately ignoring the map and following the crowd?  Are you failing to read the road-map of life that is the Word of God?

Isaiah describes us like sheep always going astray, making our own journeys and ignoring the map.  Peter continues the sheep analogy, pointing out that we even have a Shepherd who guards our souls!

For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.  1 Peter 2:25

Isaiah teaches that even though we go astray like sheep, the Lord has caused our sins to be punished through Him; that is, God.  God took our sins and dealt with them.   He did it by sending His Son, Jesus to die on the Cross.   That is how our sins fell on him.

So even though we have each gone astray, God has dealt with it.  

How do we return to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls, as Peter describes? Believe and confess!

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  Rom. 10:9

This verse in Romans is a promise.  It's closely followed by another promise:

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  Rom. 10:13

If you have been a sheep and gone your own way, is it time to return to the Shepherd?   It's the only way to stay on track.

Reference:
https://www.dirtrider.com/dakar-2018-day-11-results#page-2