John 10:1-21

John 10:1-21 (New Living Translation)

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.[b] They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

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. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”

19 When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. 20 Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” 21 Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

Who or What is tending over your life?

After reading this scripture I was left asking myself three questions:
1. What does life look like when "thief's and robbers" are in our lives?
The scripture is very informative and pretty much lays out exactly what the thief's purpose is: to steal, kill, and destroy. Who are we allowing to steal our joy, kill our spirit, and destroy the plans that we have set before us? Is it a family member? Coworker? Friend? Yourself?

2. Who is tending my life? I just got my picture taken for our church directory and the free 8X10 i am going to get in the mail pretty soon of just my beautiful self is framed with a caption that says "As for me and my house I will serve the Lord". I didn't choose that caption. I really didn't even choose the picture. It was a choice that was made for me. As for ME and MY house...do I really serve the Lord? The easy answer is yes... since I work at a church... obviously I serve the Lord... but do I? Serving the Lord and making a bold statement for your household and your life is allowing The Good Shepherd to take over your life. Its surrendering your will and your independence. I need to be dependent on my Shepherd. I like to think I am in charge, I like to think that I have everything under control... but seriously many days I don't. I allow others to get to me. I get angry, lazy, and selfish. I wander off for a while for greener pastures. Its not intentional, its something that happens one little step at a time in the wrong direction. Luckily I have a Shepherd who can guide me back to reality.

3. Do I fully accept and understand vs. 17-18? For some reason these two verses really got me. 17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” Its as if Christ put down his life as a deposit for our lives. He sacrificed his life so that he could have it back again. The thing that got me the most is this line right here "I sacrifice it voluntarily". A voluntary sacrifice. He was created that way. A voluntary sacrifice to keep me from drifting off into life stealing pastures. A voluntary sacrifice to put up with my laziness and sarcastic banter.

What better concept of Ash Wednesday do we have than a voluntary sacrifice? Its much more than the actions giving up Facebook, caffeine, or swearing for 40 days. Its about mirroring the voluntary sacrifice made by our Good Shepherd. What is God asking you to voluntarily sacrifice for the next 40 days?

My prayer for today is that God makes that abundantly clear in my life today. Maybe the next 40 days is about looking for opportunities to voluntarily sacrifice something for somebody else. Maybe its being intentional and open to that concept. Whatever your voluntary sacrifice is for you, my prayer is that we all start a journey for the next 40 days of understanding, questioning and discernment.