Monday November 5th

In John 10:2-11 Jesus uses a metaphor of his relationship with those who believe in him.  Jesus say's he is the shepherd of his sheep and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own by name and he leads them.  His sheep follow him because they know his voice.  He also says that there are others who try to call his sheep but they do not listen because they do not recognize these other voices.  Those others are like thieves that come only to steal and kill and destroy.  Jesus, the good shepherd, came so that we may have a full life.

I want to take you back to 1982 and the movie "Annie" for a moment.  The scene is this: Annie has just run away from the orphanage and is walking around the streets of the city with a stray dog when the dogcatcher shows up.  He puts a leash around the dogs' neck and Annie, fearing for the dog's life and knowing that the pound awaits him, tells the catcher, "that's my dog."  The reply is, "If it's your dog then what's his name?"  "Sandy!" is Annie's response.  "Well if it is your dog then go over there and call him by his name."  Annie goes across the street and begins to call for Sandy.  Then a man standing next to her starts calling to the dog as well.  He is using all kinds of dog names to try to get the dog to come over to him like Rover and Rin Tin Tin.  Annie straightens up and in a clear voice calls, "Sandy" and the dog comes right to her.  The catcher removes the collar and for the rest of the story Sandy is now Annie's dog, listening to her voice and following her wherever she goes.

I am like Sandy.  Jesus called my name many years ago.  I was wandering in my life, wanting for more then the emptiness this world offers with its abundance of unsatisfying pleasures.  I heard his voice and I went to him.  The collar of sin was removed from my neck and along with it the threat of the pound, the threat of an eternal separation from the Shepherd, Jesus, who had called me.  I was excited with my new Shepherd and very devoted to him. 

But my story begins to differ from that of Sandy because my devotion to the one who called me is not always so faithful.  I'm not always so quick to follow Christ and listen to his voice.  Just like in the movie Annie and in the story in John 10, there are others who are trying to lure me away from the shepherd.  There are wolves, enemies of God who seek to steal, kill and destroy my faith in Jesus.  I will be honest and admit that sometimes these "voices" are loud and clear and over power the voice of my shepherd.  I know who these voices are, they are the voices of doubt, guilt, pride, regret, condemnation, self-pity, anger, and one of the loudest voices is fear.  I know that these voices are not from Jesus as he does not condemn (Jn 3:17), he does not give us a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7), he has given us hope in place of doubt (1 Peter 1:3), he has removed our guilt and regret (Isaiah 53:10), he teaches humility (Mt 11:19), I could go on and on.  But I find that despite the fact that I know these voices are not from Christ, that they are not truth, I sit and listen to them nonetheless.  What happens when I do?  They steal my joy, they try to kill my hope, and destroy my faith in the Good Shepherd.  The passage in John 10 gives me the answer in how to deal with these voices of deception, these lies that like to shout out at me from time to time: John says His sheep will run away when they hear a voice they know is not that of the shepherd.

James 4:6-8
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you.

We need to constantly remember our need to draw near to God, to run to the safety of the shepherd.  To keep our ears attuned to his voice.

How do we keeps our spiritual ears tuned to the voice of the shepherd?  How do we learn to run from the voices that desire to lead us astray?  By doing what we have been doing all year…spending time reading his word.  Jesus, the good shepherd, is referred to as the Word of God several times.  If we want to know his voice we simple have to read our bibles as often as possible and become more and more familiar with it.  There are many passages that speak to this (Heb 4:12, Ps 18:30, Is 40:8, Lk 11:38, 2 Tim 2:15, 1 Jn 2:14).  Also when you hear those others voices calling out to you (pride, anger, guilt, etc) run to the shepherd, run to the Word of God, read the bible and fill your ears with the truth.  Call out to the shepherd in prayer and ask him to help you find his voice amongst the lies.  Remember the good shepherd does not desire for you to live a life that is mediocre and bland but as John 10 says he desires you and I to live a full life and that full life is found by listening to the voice of the one who called you by name in the first place.

I want to be like Sandy, I want to follow Christ with un-abandoned hope, faith, love, trust, and satisfaction in who he is, what he says, and the blessings that come from living a life in him.  I want so desperately to live the full life he has planned for me.