Following the Good Shepherd

There are a lot of different names for Jesus and many different ways we can picture him.  Good Shepherd is one of my favorite titles for who Jesus is.  Just as a shepherd gathers his sheep and protects them, Jesus gathers us up as his flock and protects us.  He calls out to us as shepherds call out to their sheep.  “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).  When we hear Jesus, do we recognize him and follow him?  Do we allow him to guide us?

The world is loud and filled with many different voices.  We can be pulled into many different directions from the people around us, social media, and anyone or anything else we interact with on a daily basis.  It may be easy to be tempted to do whatever everyone else is doing or believe what everyone else believes.  However, this is not the way of Jesus, the Good Shepherd.  He calls us to more.  He allows us “to have life and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).  When we abandon the ways of the world and choose to instead follow him, our lives will be filled with greater faith and love than we could ever imagine.

Without Jesus as our shepherd, we are just a bunch of lost sheep.  We may think we know everything or believe that we can do it on our own.  When we fall into these mindsets, we get distracted and wander off the path to the gate.  Jesus knows each and every one of us on a deep, personal level.  The fact that thousands of other people choose to follow him does not matter.  He wants you and me to follow him too because he loves each one of us individually.

​There is no one who knows us better or loves us more than Jesus.  Why would we not listen to and follow the one who knows us best and loves us most?  Let him protect you, guide you, and love you.  You are a part of his flock.  A sheep without a shepherd is lost.  In the same way, a person without Christ is lost.  Don’t be a lost sheep.  Be a sheep who hears the Good Shepherd and trusts that following Him is the best thing you could ever do.