All we, like sheep . . .

Sheep are not like cattle. When I was a teen, we often moved cattle from one farm to another (my uncles lived in the same community). They resisted and had to be driven. We used vehicles and horses to press them in the right direction. Sheep are not like that. If you try to drive them, they scatter. Instead, they must be led.

For a short time, I had some sheep. They are not easy animals to care for and leading them requires a ‘relationship’ — otherwise they did not know my voice. Because I didn’t have time to develop that intimacy with those critters, I was a stranger to them and they were always scattering. Eventually I gave up and sold the flock.

Jesus used sheep to illustrate His relationship with His people. Once that relationship is formed by grace through faith, we know His voice and follow Him:

“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:3–5)

In New Testament times, all the sheep grazed together, but at night each shepherd called their flock and they followed him to a sheepfold where they were safe from wolves and other predators. Out of hundreds of other animals and dozens of shepherds, each sheep turned only to their own owner:

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:14–16)

In these verses, Jesus uses shepherding to explain how His people know His voice, but also to say that this relationship has several astonishing qualities. First, that intimacy between believers and Him is the same intimacy that characterizes the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. This is incredible and at first seems a bit of an exaggeration. However, Jesus tells the truth and this produces a desire in my heart to more deeply explore and enjoy this great intimacy.

Second, Jesus plainly says He lays down His life for the sheep. This is a present tense verb. I’m not a Greek scholar, but this seems to indicate more than His death on the Cross. My dictionary says laying down means “to give up or set aside” along with the idea of being prone. Could He be saying that Jesus gives His all for His sheep all the time? He died for us, yet He also lives for us and forever intercedes for us. Amazing.

Third, there are other sheep. They were not His at the time, but He said they will be. He is talking about Gentiles, yet in a larger sense, He indicates that more people will eventually join His flock and there will be one flock, one body of Christ, a church of those who are in relationship with Jesus. There will also be unity.

The people who crowded around Jesus were divided. Some asked Him to tell them plainly if He was their Messiah. He answered them:

“I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:24–29)

^^^^^^^

Jesus, with that, You said that we who are in an intimate relationship with You not only hear, know, and follow You, we also have eternal life (eternal means eternal) and no one can steal us away from You. We are safe in Your care. This is precious and blessed assurance, for me about myself, but also about those who have gone before me. All those who die believing in You are safe in Your care, safe as sheep in the care of a good, good shepherd.

Mouth shut, ears open

Cartoons illustrate God speaking with a booming voice from heaven, but that is not how it works. In the Old Testament, the words “God said” or “God spoke” often appear, but as the story of Elijah reveals, it was not with noise but a low whisper.

In that story, Elijah had fled from his enemies and hid in a cave. The Lord asked him why he was there, and after his short explanation, God told him to “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.”

The Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:9–13)

Christians today also hear the Spirit of God speak, but seldom if ever audibly. Because He lives within His people, and we recognize His voice, He does not need to shout or even whisper. Jesus affirmed this with, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me . . .  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.’ (John 10:14, 27)

Our relationship with Him is intimate. As our Shepherd, we “hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:3–5)

Sometimes when I go to prayer, I have so much on my heart that I do all the talking. The Lord is patient and listens, but I know that He wants me to listen as well . . .

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. (Psalm 85:8)

He does speak peace, peace that erases the anxiety of those prayer burdens. If I rattle on and on, I’ll miss that important blessing of being able to communicate with Him and listen. However, He may also speak a warning like the one in the above verse. I need those warnings too, for I so easily turn back to old bad habits. He is with me and desires to help me avoid that folly, but I need to be a better listener.

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. (Hebrews 12:25)

This verse also points out that listening is only half of it. The other half is not doing my share of the talking, but taking action on whatever He warns me about or says to me as instruction, a command, or even as encouragement. He meets my need to hear Him through His Word, but also in that low whisper to my heart — as long as when I am praying, I keep both ears open.