“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
Jesus used a lot of simple life application stories and analogies to teach faith lessons. Shepherds are known to care. lead and guide their sheep to good pastures. They also protect their flock from ravenous wolves or animals who seek to plunder and kill them This picture helps us to understand the declaration made by Jesus as our good shepherd who will always love and care for His sheep in every season of their lives. Jesus, our good shepherd is always calling out to us, His sheep to lead and guide us. He knows every single one of us by name and we should be familiar with His voice and be attentive to it at all times.
The acknowledgement that God is our maker and seeking to know Him helps us to really understand that we belong to Him. Psalm 100:3 Who we follow and allow to be the most influential person in our lives matter more than we can fully imagine. Jesus laid down His life willingly to redeem us back to God because He loves us more than anyone. He cares about our overall well-being and the state of our souls. He wants to lead and guide us in every step of our journey of life and faith. He wants us to thrive and be safe. Jesus is concerned about the daily choices we make, the places we go and the things we get entangled in.
When we ignore the voice and the leading of Jesus, our good shepherd, we expose ourselves to the enemy of our souls whose relentless mission is to steal our joy, lead our souls to eternal damnation and to destroy our relationship with God which includes destroying our Christian testimony. John 10:10
The choice we make each day on whom to follow affects the daily quality of our lives and has eternal consequences. Following Jesus, the good shepherd is a choice to enjoy the abundant life that only He can give. Jesus will never lead us astray or allow the enemy of our souls to take us away from Him. He laid His life and took it back in power for the forgiveness of our sins and to redeem us back in right standing with God through Him. Ephesians 1:7
He paid the ultimate price as the good shepherd once and for all! His love for us is unquestionable and our decision to follow Him should be unwavering in living the abundant life which is His gift to us. Today and now is a good opportunity to put our trust in the love, guidance and leading of Jesus, our good shepherd. The abundant life of peace and sure direction He offers is ours for the taking if we are willing to be guided and cared for by Him in every step in our journey of life and faith. It is our earnest prayer that you will do that now because the good shepherd also listens to His sheep speaking to Him.