OUR shepherd is leading his sheep home from the mountains, and in this way they get home much more quickly than if the sheep had to be driven.
I shall never forget, says one, the walk I had with a friend over the mount of Olives. As he went along I heard a man’s voice calling out to us, as I supposed, but as he spoke in Arabic I could not tell what he said, and waited for my friend to answer him. Again and again he called, and still my companion took no notice of him. At length I turned around to see who he was. In a moment I understood all about it. There was an old man with a shepherd’s crook in his hand, walking in front of a drove of sheep of perhaps between one and two hundred in number. It was very beautiful to notice that he had a distinct name for each of them, and as one or another of the sheep lagged behind, he had only to call the right name to cause that one to quickly make tip the lost ground. Close behind the old man were a few favorite sheep, who never wandered from him, but kept quite close to their kind shepherd, and rubbed their noses against his legs.
We read in John 10 of the Shepherd’s own sheep; these must be His own which keep close to Him. Which out of all the flock would have least to fear from the attacks of wolves? Why, the one nearest to the shepherd. If a wolf, urged on by hunger, tried to run off with a lamb, he would certainly attack one of those in the background.
What a lesson for both lambs and sheep of the flock of Christ to keep near the Shepherd, if they wish to be free from danger; and to listen to His voice when He speaks, for Satan goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Have you ever thought that Jesus knows our names, every one of us?
The shepherd knows each sheep by its face and has a name for each, so Jesus knows all His own sheep, and would miss the youngest of His lambs, if absent from His presence. May each of my readers be one of Christ’s lambs, and then always keep close to the Shepherd, and he will be safe.
ML 03/15/1925