I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” John 10:1-3 NLT
In this illustration, Jesus presents two very different visitors to the sheep pen, the shepherd and the thief who sneaks in hoping to lure one of the sheep away from the others and away from the safety of their shepherd. Sheep aren’t the brightest animals on the planet, but one thing they know, is the voice of their shepherd. By instinct, they follow his lead and stay close to him. In the time that Jesus was using this illustration shepherds often shared sheep pens. The stone walls of the pen kept the sheep safe from wolves during the night. The herds were not divided in the pen, so in the morning, each shepherd would come and call out to his sheep. They recognized the voice of their own shepherd, gathered around him and followed him out to the pastures.
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me.” John 10:10-14 NLT
Jesus was using this familiar illustration to make a point. He is our shepherd. He is committed to protecting us and caring for our needs. He desires to give each one of us a rich and satisfying life! He knows you by name, and He calls you to follow Him. But there is another whose purpose is to steal you away from the shepherd and to destroy you! He too calls out. Whose voice will you follow?
In the darkness of the night, there is safety in the sheep pen. Will you rest under the protection of the shepherd, together with the other sheep, or will you isolate yourself and try to go it alone?
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29 NLT
You have a choice! Two voices call out to you but you get to choose which one to follow. If you choose to follow Jesus and walk close to Him, no one can snatch you away from Him! The Father is more powerful than anyone else! No one can snatch you from the Father’s hand but you must follow His voice and run from the voice of the thief!
Don’t ever let the enemy tell you that the Father will give up on you and release you from His hands. God confirmed that through Jeremiah in another illustration He gives us. To read about that click here: In The Potter’s Hands