“The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me, I know them, and they follow Me”.
John10:27
Jesus is our caring Shepherd Who guards and guides us, Who feeds and protect us and knows each one by name. There is a special relationship between the shepherds and their sheep. The sheep recognizes the voice of the shepherd. We are the sheep of His pasture, and we must be receptive to His call, His voice and His Word. He knows us thoroughly and the differences and need of each of us.
But unlike the sheep we are deceived by other voices. We sometimes get distracted by these other voices and get led away from the good shepherd, Jesus. The Shepherd protects us from spiritual predators, from things that are harmful ,from thorns that could hurt us, from flood waters that could drowns us. He causes us to grow and stay healthy. Jesus is the Shepherd Who owns us and we do His will and not our own. Just as sheep completely trust the shepherd. ,we trust the Lord. Our Shepherd is competent to handle all the problems we have to confront. When He does not take us to the food and water, He brings food and water to us. Unlike the shepherd ,the Lord is all knowing, all powerful, all loving and omnipresent. He is able to restore our souls, our minds and our emotions of peace and Joy. He is able to replace despair with hope. He replaces fear with faith, weaknesses with strength and grace, folly with wisdom. While we hear His voice, He hears the very beat of our hearts and bleated whisper of our souls.
Unlike sheep we are to be wise sheep, shrewd as the serpent and gentle as the dove, able to discern the wolf who comes in sheep skin. We rejoice in the words as sheep delight in green pastures we are not tempted even if the grass on the other side of the fence seems greener. He shines a light on the paths we should take in the darkness. We avoid the snares and traps of the common enemy of all human beings and walk in straight paths. Jesus has bound the strong one who is against us. He embraced death to make it a doorway to eternal life for us.
The Lord lead us to still waters or things that refresh, renew and rejoice our hearts. So we do not have fear or anxiety about our future. The natural shepherd can only lead us to the external streams to quench our thirst while the supernatural shepherd will cause the streams of living water of the Holy Spirit to flow in us. We are contend with all we have and ready to follow Jesus wherever He leads us. The Lord uses angels and mentors to guide us. As sheep multiply and yield wool to keep people warm ,we too bear fruit and increase our yield for the Lord. Unlike the natural shepherd our Shepherd guarantees us life forever.
Psalms23:6”And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”.
Prayer
Heavenly Father we thank you for being our good shepherd. Give us the grace to obey and trust you always. In Jesus name we pray .
Amen
Sol . Gigi Jacob