“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
““I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15)
A good shepherd is ever watchful of his flock. The danger is not always when they are in the fields grazing; it can be when they are in their pens as well.* Since we know from scripture that God is omnipresent** (Psalm 139:7-12), He is more than able to protect and care for His sheep. We are His sheep and nothing can harm us or come near us unless either we or He allows it. God knows us intimately. In other words, He knows us in a detailed and complete manner. He created us in our mother’s womb and knew us before we were born. When we received Christ our spirit yearned after God and recognized who God was and He surely knew us as well. We have been drawn to Him and are drawn to Him still. Many a Christian let their yearning become less fervent as they get caught up in their daily lives; yet still the good shepherd watches over us. He is willing to and in quite the literal sense has laid down His life for the sheep. Christ’s walk through the streets of Jerusalem carrying the cross that would be the vehicle of His death was no small thing, but rather the opening act in the process of laying His life down. Christ bore our sin and our shame without hesitation, yet many times we hesitate to even acknowledge that we know Him. Like sheep we must be lead and God is the one who is capable and willing to lead us down the proper path to safety and to our eternal home. No one else is able to do that. We cannot find our way on our own. The Shepherd knows the path. It winds through thickets and briers and thorny woods to the place where it is safe. We need to know the Shepherd and follow Him for to go our own way will only get us lost. Follow Christ today.
WALK WITH THE KING TODAY AND BE A BLESSING!
* “The bandits of Israel are not apt to pick locks, but some of them may manage to climb up over the wall, and get into the fold, where they cut the throats of as many of the animals as possible and then sling them over the wall to others of their band, and all of them attempt to escape without being caught.” Taken from Manners & Customs: Shepherds, Shepherds in the Ancient World; www.bible-history.com
** The Oxford Dictionary – “(of God) everywhere at the same time”
