Three days on the road :)

Thursday, 9^th August, 2007

My sheep her my voice, and follow

“And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.” - John 10v4

I love this illustration because it is one I can really understand. A few years ago we had friends who owned some sheep and they asked for some to move them to their wintering sheds. My job was simple, all I had to do was scare the sheep away from a place they should not go. The sheep would not listen to me, but followed every instruction by their owners.

What a great illustration! Jesus says that His true sheep will obey Him and they will follow Him. Sheep do that, they follow their master. The sheep I worked with ran from me, I think that is a great picture of how we should respond to the false shepherds that we encounter.

Friday, 10^th August, 2007

They shall never perish

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” - John 10v28-29

I am not certain about a whole lot when it comes to some of the fringe theological issues. I don’t think that any thinking person who is honest and thinking could say that they were dead sure about everything. There are some issues that I can see both sides of. There is one area that I am as sure as I can be.

Jesus carried the sheep illustration on out to explain an important truth. He says the following about His sheep:

They hear His voice

He knows them

The follow Him

He gives them eternal life

They shall never perish

No one can snatch them out of His hand

God the Father gave them to Him

No one can take them out of God’s hand, and He is greater than all

It seems obvious from this that Jesus’ sheep are His sheep and no one is going to change that. They have eternal life, they are not going to perish, no one can take them from either the Father or Him. My eternal destiny in Christ is secure. I am in Him and no one can change that fact. I need not fear somehow losing my salvation for He holds me wrapped up in the palm of His hand.

Praise God that once I am in Him I never need fear losing that gift!.

Saturday, 11^th August, 2007

If any man serve Me, let Him follow me

“If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” - John 12v26

It really only seems to make sense that a servant follows Him master. Where the master leads, the servant always follows, or he is not a true servant. Jesus pointed out that this is not only the case with physical, literal masters and servant, but that it also applies to those who choose to follow Him. It is obvious that the ones who herd Him though that it made sense that they would follow Him. After all He was their Master and Teacher.

Yet they could not yet possibly know what followership would entail. They all committed to follow Him, but they thought they were following Him into power as Israel would overthrow their Roman oppressors. Despite what He had been telling them, they could hardly have imagined that it would involve suffering, hardship, and for most of them death.

We sing a song called “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus.” Sometimes that song sings real easy, when things are going well and coasting along. Yet if we are truly His followers followership may not always be easy. Sometimes it is tough to keep on following Him no matter what.

Jesus says His servants will follow. Are we willing to follow no matter where He leads?