John 10:22-42
Friday, 17 June 2022
"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 pluck them out of my hand." -John 10:27-28
Today’s reading points us to Jesus the Good Shepherd! Jesus calls Himself the Shepherd and those who follow Him– the sheep, highlighting the intimate relationship between Christ Jesus and His disciples! In our key verse Jesus describes three characteristics of His sheep: (i) They hear His voice (ii) They follow Him (ii) They shall never perish.
THEY HEAR HIS VOICE
It is only when we receive Jesus into our hearts as our Lord and Saviour that we become “His sheep” and He “our Shepherd.” He knows us and we begin to know Him and our priorities begin to change. It marks the beginning of our spiritual journey with the Shepherd, Jesus Christ. As sheep always listen to the voice of its shepherd and follows him, we need to listen to our Shepherd’s voice and trust that He will lead us in all our ways. He will lead us to green pastures; to still waters and lead us through dark valleys, as well where we will fear no evil (Psalm 23).
However, recognizing the Shepherd’s voice is crucial in following Him. Often the “voices of the world” can drown out the voice of our Good Shepherd. Unless we flush out of our hearts, the things of this world, the Lord cannot occupy it.
The pasture of a countryside is usually a very quiet place and so the sheep there can recognize their shepherd's voice. If, therefore, we want to hear our Shepherd's voice, guiding us in every step of our life as His disciples, we need to seek Him through a quiet time of study of His Word and develop the habit of listening to Him. A fine tuning in our lives to listen to His Voice and to His Word is to be developed.
THEY FOLLOW HIM
When we begin to constantly hear His voice in our lives, following Him becomes easy. We learn to discern between our flesh and the Spirit. Following the Lord becomes a joyous experience in our life because we are certain that He knows the way through the wilderness of life. The Lord says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psalm 32:8). Trust is required in following—when there is trust, there is faith and there in no fear of failure. We must follow Him with faith and we must obey Him in joy. He shields, defends and protects all those who trust in Him. We learn not to lean on our own understanding but trust Him and acknowledge Him in all our ways (Proverbs 3:5,6). Man’s understanding is limited and not all always right. God’s understanding of a situation is accurate and should be followed no matter how foolish it looks or sounds.
THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH
Verse 28 says, “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” “Them” refers to anyone who hears His voice and follows Him. The gift of eternal life is available to all who by faith receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour! God did not choose some to receive eternal life, while making it unavailable to others. God desires that everyone be saved. We have in Him a divine gift, a divine promise and a divine security.
May the Holy Spirit help us today to have a true experience of His saving grace which will produce gratitude in our hearts and a dedication to Christ who promises those who are His own: ‘THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH!”
Meditate on: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)
Listen: ‘Saviour like a Shepherd lead us’