Found this somewhere:

It could be said that the Shepherd cares tenderly for his flock, guarding and protecting them; moving them from green pasture to green pasture; bedding them down for the nights next to pools of cool, clear water. When they are sick, he tends them; when one of them is lost, he goes and finds them and returns them to the fold.

The image of the Good Shepherd as a representation of God is brought to us from the dim primeval past; it is ingrained in us to think of our Loving Father as a Shepherd, holding the lost lamb, glowing with beneficence and kindly devotion to his flock.

But, the fact is, nobody is really paying attention to this image because, if they were, they would realize that the shepherd only tends the flock so he can shear them and/or eat them. And in times past, that included regular and numerous sacrifices to the "Gods."

Now, just think about that for a moment.

Food for thought?