The Year of our Lord, Jesus Christ
John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Following Jesus is that which His true sheep do. Some follow Him into a special call of service. Some follow Him in His doctrine, direction, and dogma, but all His sheep follow Him to one extent or another. This is what He said on the matter. On the occasion of this statement the Lord taught clearly that there are those who are His sheep and there are those who are not His sheep. In context this is what was said:
I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 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.
What a promise! What a warning! Think about the blessings of being one of His sheep; He knows them, they hear His voice, they follow Him, He gives them eternal life, they shall never perish, and no person can separate them from Him. How can these things be? Well, frankly, as sheep we cannot understand it all, for we are sheep. He is the Shepherd, and it is the Shepherd’s job to perform these great promises. The sheep, we just believe Him, trust Him, and follow Him.
King David understood that he was simply a sheep for he wrote: The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. Psalm 23
Now that is something that a believer in Jesus Christ can depend on! We may not always be able to depend on ourselves, but we can always depend on Him, our loving, able, strong, honest, and skilled Shepherd.
Until next time,
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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