"The Voice of the Good Shepherd"

“The Voice of the Good Shepherd”

 

 

“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”          John 10:2-5

 

This was a figure of speech used by Jesus to the Pharisees, who did not understand what he was saying, because they were not his of His flock of sheep. 

 

 The Sheep of different flocks were kept at night, behind a rock wall, with a gatekeeper, who guards the sheep and allows only the shepherds to enter the gate to the sheepfold.  The shepherd has a close relationship with his sheep and like we do with our pets, they named their sheep, and the sheep knew their names and they knew the sound of their shepherd’s voice, whenever the shepherd entered the sheepfold and called his sheep by name they would come to him and when ALL of his sheep were gathered around him, he would go in front of the flock and LEAD them to green pastures, and the sheep would FOLLOW the sound of the shepherds voice.

 

Should an unknown shepherd come into the sheepfold and try to get the sheep, they RUN AWAY, because they do not recognize the voice of the unknown shepherd, and would NEVER FOLLOW a stranger.

 

So it is with the TRUE BELIEVER of Jesus Christ, we are His sheep and He is our GOOD SHEPHERD.  He calls us by name and we follow Him.  When ALL of His sheep are brought into the sheepfold, when the very last person has received Christ as their Savior and Lord, and He comes to gather ALL of His sheep together, they will follow the sound of His voice, as He leads them to a greener pasture, Heaven, which will be their eternal home. 

 

His sheep experience such a unique relationship with the Good Shepherd that, they KNOW His voice and they KNOW their name, and will ONLY FOLLOW Him, because they KNOW Him and TRUST Him.  Should a different shepherd try calling them they will FLEE or RUN AWAY, because they don’t recognize the voice, and they don’t TRUST them.  Do you KNOW the Good Shepherd’s voice?  Should He come to the sheepfold for the last time, would you recognize His voice, and would you be able to FOLLOW HIM to Heaven, your eternal home?  Or would you be destined to be LEFT BEHIND and FOLLOWING a shepherd who will lead you to Hell for ALL of eternity? 

 

When Jesus, the GOOD SHEPHERD calls you to FOLLOW Him will you recognize His voice and follow Him to Heaven?  You can by: Coming to Him with a TRUE REPENTANT HEART, CONFESSING your sins to Him and asking Him for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION, and be able to RECOGNIZE His voice and FOLLOW HIM to your ETERNAL HOME.  Do it NOW, while you still can.  He’s waiting and coming SOON!!!