John 10:27
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
Thoughts from Pastor Josh
Dive Deeper
Behind the Scenes
Let’s talk about sheep and shepherds. Being a shepherd was not “trendy” in the era that this verse was written. The profession is one of the oldest known to humankind, and it was also one of the lowliest in the era when shepherds were common. Shepherds have historically been migratory, transient, and unimportant. When Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice,” he is referring to himself as a lowly, humble Shepherd. He could have referred to Himself as their King, but no. Here, he chooses to refer to himself as a lowly Shepherd because the type of relationship He is talking about is based on sacrifice.
Now for sheep: Sheep have been mentioned in the Bible more than 500 times and are used symbolically throughout scripture to refer to us, God’s people. We are currently reading through Exodus as a church, and we love to picture a shepherd caring tenderly for the flock. While this is true, the other half of this truth is that sheep are symbolically used for sacrifice time and time again. The sheep’s lives are not their own, yet their trust relationship with their shepherd is an intimate one. They are intelligent enough to distinguish their shepherd’s voice in a crowd of people. They know him, and they trust their shepherd for survival, because sheep, though emotionally intelligent, have no wilderness/survival skills.
Make it Real
Do you know your Shepherd? Is it His voice that dictates your life above all of the noise? Or more importantly, above yourself?
Here is the tough yet beautiful application that we all grapple with. Jesus gave his life for us. He died so that we could be saved. I know I personally love that aspect of the shepherd/sheep relationship image that we have fabricated, but it’s easy to forget that our sacrifice is mutual. Matthew 16:24-26 tells us that we, the sheep, need to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily and follow Him. The Shepherd is our example of physical sacrifice, and we are meant to symbolically do the same.
When that mutual love exists, when we abide in the above scripture, it is then when we hear His voice. We can look to Him and know that He is protecting us, caring for us, and leading us into His goodness. That is the space where I want to be, always! When we cry out, He hears us. When we are in anguish, He listens. And you know what? When we are angry, He cares about that, too! He knows our voice even when we don’t verbalize our thoughts.
We are meant to know His voice, too. If you are struggling with hearing Him amidst all the noise, the best way to listen is abiding in scripture. When we know Him, we will hear Him.
Jesus, I pray that you would be with this reader, today. I pray that they would hear Your voice, and that they would know You. I pray that they would develop a deeper trust relationship with You than they ever have before, and that You would continue to lead them. Thank You that You are so good to us. Thank You for giving Your life to us, and may we continually learn to give our lives back to You, daily. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
*Fun fact- Sheep have an excellent sense of smell. They can smell from their eyes and their feet! Cool!
We are in this together.
Much love!
Ali Bair
ACF Devo Team
End in Prayer
Hey God!
Thank You for being my true Shepherd. Please help me to tune my ears to hear Your voice over the voices around me or even my own. Help me to follow You. Thank you for being trustworthy and always caring about my good.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen