Here is the revelation that is shaping my life today- the deep needs of love, safety, and being known are all met in the good shepherd. They are the foundation for a full life.
John 10:14-15 NLT
[14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, [15] just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.
Observation
“They know me.” This is the focus of God’s intention, intimate knowing. The relationship God invites us into is not religious-based law obedience, it is intimate knowing, protecting at all cost, love relationship. And it’s not obscure knowing about, it’s not distant knowing or second-hand knowing. It’s not the knowing that comes from the article in a tabloid magazine, it’s as intimate as the knowing of the Father and the Son. Don’t water this invitation down. God invites you and me to an intimate knowing where we follow Him because we know He is good, we know he is for us, we know He loves us, and He leads us and protects us unto His own death.
It’s the knowing of sheep and their shepherd but as intimate as that of the Father knowing His son. It’s simple but profound. And we are known. “I know my own sheep.” We are not generically known we are intimately known. We are not loved in general, we are loved in person.
We all crave this love, this knowing, this protection in order to thrive in life. These are the basic needs of humanity. God made us with these needs because in their fulfillment in Him is fullness of life. So it raises the question – if not in the shepherd Jesus where do you meet these cravings, these necessities for life? Who is your shepherd that knows, protects, and sacrifices himself for you?
Application
I will live in the love, protection, and knowledge of Jesus. I will never allow the stories of alone or isolation, or “no one gets me” to have any shaping influence in my life. I will never allow fear, anxiety, or worry to have a shaping voice for my shepherd will lay down His life for me, from what or whom would I be afraid? I will live in the fullness of life that this affords me.
Response
Thank you for being the voice I follow. Thank you for revealing your voice to me that I may follow your love. Thank you that the deep needs of my life are met in you. I am blessed.
Meditation
Meditation truth – They know me.
Consider:
Have you allowed the beauty of the shepherd to shape your life story?
Do you know the intimacy of relationship God has with you?
JOURNEY DEEPER