The Good Shepherd & His Sheep

He that enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep... and when he puts forth his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. (John 10:2,4)

God is down in front. He is in the tomorrows. It is tomorrow that fills men with dread. God is there already. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass Him before they can get to us.

For they know his voice. — The word is stronger than the one in John 10:3, “and the sheep hear his voice.” It expresses the familiar knowledge which the little flock has of the voice of their own shepherd who leads them day by day. (Elicott's Commentary)

A man, who was travelling through Syria, saw three native shepherds bring their flocks to the same brook, and the flocks drank there together. At length one shepherd arose and called out "Men-ah! Men-ah!" the Arabic for "Follow me." His sheep came out of the common herd and followed him up the hillside. Then the next shepherd did the same, and his sheep went away with him, and the man did not even stop to count them. The traveller said to the remaining shepherd: "Just give me your turban and crook, and see if they will not follow me as soon as you," So he put on the shepherd's dress and called out "Men-ah! Men-ah!" but not a sheep moved. The shepherd smiled. He said: "They know not the voice of a stranger. They only obey their master's voice."

Our Lord Jesus, is the Great Shepherd:

1. He has a shepherd's heart, beating with pure and generous love that counted not His life-blood too dear a price to pay down as our ransom.

2. He has a shepherd's eye, that takes in the whole flock, and misses not even the poor sheep wandering away on the mountains cold.

3. He has a shepherd's faithfulness, which will never fail nor forsake, nor leave us comfortless, nor flee when He seeth the wolf coming. He has a shepherd's strength, so that He is well able to deliver us from the jaw of the lion or the paw of the bear.

4. He has a shepherd's tenderness; no lamb so tiny that He will not carry it, no saint so weak that He will not gently lead, no soul so faint that He will not give it rest. He pities as a father. He comforts as a mother. His gentleness makes great, he covers us with His feathers, soft, warm, and downy, and under His wings do we trust.

Source: F. B. Meyer

• Do you know the voice of the Good Shepherd?
• TIP: Frances Ann Green about John 10