Cori Forcey

John 10:11-14

Friday, March 9

11 "I am the good shepherd." The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away – and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own knows me. – John 10:11-14

Shepherds, in the time that Jesus was using this example, moved their sheep from one place to another by calling to them with their voice. The sheep learned to recognize and trust the voice of their shepherd, and therefore, followed it. Sheep were known to scatter at the voice of another, for it was not trusted.

My goal is to be a sheep. The struggle I am faced with is to learn to recognize Jesus' voice among the crowd of voices coming at me each day. Even when I desire to hear God above all else, it can be hard for me to figure out what he is saying. Maybe this is true for you as well.

Conveniently, God gave us many gifts to help us find his voice. He gave us Jesus! What do we know about Jesus? Well, dive into some scripture and there are a lot of answers. For instance, you will read over and over about how much Jesus loves us. God also gave us the Holy Spirit, who serves as an advocate through prayer, and a guide through life. The more often we find ourselves listening, the more likely we are to recognize and follow the shepherds's loving and trustworthy voice.

Questions for reflection:

• What voices are you listening to the most in your life?
• What can you do to listen closer for Jesus' voice?

Prayer:

Good Shepherd, help me to recognize your voice among the crowd, and listen for it always. Amen