Day 7: Don’t Be Driven, Just Follow the Shepherd!

Yesterday, we saw In the Gospel of John that the true mark of the followers of Jesus is that they listen to the voice of the Shepherd. And then, it’s all summed up in John 10:27. Jesus is speaking again.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

There are three things that mark out the true followers of the Lord, His disciples, His people.

First, they hear His voice.

Second, He knows them; He recognizes them; He acknowledges them.

Thirdly, they follow Him.

You see, it’s not a question of denominational labels. Jesus isn’t talking in terms of Catholics, or Protestants, or Baptists, or Methodists, or Presbyterians, or Pentecostals. He’s not saying, “My people come from any particular denomination or group,” but He’s saying, “The distinctive mark of my people, that which singles them out from all other people, that which makes them different and makes them mine, is they hear my voice; I know them, they follow Me.”

And we realize, of course, that in Bible times, in Bible lands, a shepherd did not drive his sheep, he led them, and he led them by the sound of his voice. They didn’t follow him by watching him, primarily, they followed him by listening to him, and they always went where they heard the shepherd’s voice. If you apply that analogy, which is totally scriptural, it is impossible to follow the Lord unless you hear His voice. It must be through hearing His voice.

Let me say this in love: Jesus did not say, “My sheep read the Bible.” I believe it’s essential to read the Bible, but it’s not sufficient because many people read the Bible but don’t hear the voice of the Lord. It’s not reading the Bible only that enables us to follow Him; it’s also hearing His voice. “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.”