Sheep and Shepherds

John 10
My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me.
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  John 10:27-28

LET IT GLOW

As a child, in the hot summer evenings, I would hear my grandfather "calling
the cows home". Soon there would be mooing heard. His cows knew this
farmer's voice. They knew he was taking good care of them, so it was for their
benefit to go to him.  (Although, animals don't have reasoning like that, they
still came to him.)  Grandpa lived just down the hill from us and his voice
echoed. I understand it is the same way with sheep, they know their
shepherd's voice.

At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus tells us about the sheep, shepherd, and
thief. He says that the good shepherd knows his own sheep, calls them by
name, leads them out to pasture, and lays down his own life for his sheep. The
sheep know their shepherd's voice and  follow him. The thief comes to steal,
kill, and destroy the sheep. He doesn't enter the fold (pen for sheep) by the
door, but sneaks in, calls the sheep, but they flee from him. The shepherd
stays and even sleeps at the doorway to the fold so nothing can enter and
take or kill his sheep.

This is a good illustration which Jesus used.
In verse 9, Jesus says,"I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture."

We are saved by believing in only Jesus. As Christians, we are the sheep and
Jesus is our Good Shepherd. In verse 27, we know His voice, He knows us,
and we follow Jesus. He gives us peace when we do.

Henry and Richard Blackaby say in "Experiencing God Day By Day":

If Christ is the door in your life, He will guide you into every experience

          of Him that He wants, and there will be nothing that people can do to

          stop Him.

          If we believed Jesus is the door for our lives, we would be assured

          that through Christ we have access to everything He wants to do in and

          through us.
         
          Jesus warns us to be on guard for thieves who will try to rob us of what

         God has for us. Jesus wants us to enjoy aboundant life.(verse 10)

Are we allowing Him to be our Door and Good Shepherd?


LET IT GROW

"I am the Son of God," Jesus says in verse 36. We must believe this in order
to be saved. Jesus proved Himself many times in the scriptures.
Also, in verse 28, Jesus says that as His sheep (children), we will not perish
but have eternal life. Then He goes on to say that no man can pluck us out of
His hand. That's my security.


LET IT GO

Listen to the voice of Jesus and find fulfillment.

Trust and obey Him.

Allow Jesus to be my Door and Good Shepherd.