Do you hear His voice?

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me” John 10:14

 Even when I was not a Christian, I knew of the 23^rd Psalm. It is often read at funerals or meditated on when people are         experiencing difficult times.  What a comfort to know the Lord as your Shepherd. But, the sad fact is that most people who profess to be Christians do not belong to Gods flock. In John chapter 6, we read of the 5000 that Jesus fed. After Jesus left them, they sought Him out the next day in Capernaum. They wanted to follow Jesus and make Him their King (John 6:15). John records what transpired when they found Him:

When they found him on the other side of the sea,  they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you   are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but        because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work   for the food that perishes, but for the food that         endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will     give to you. For on him God the Father has set his   seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to       be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him    whom he has sent.” John 6:25-29

Like so many others that follow Jesus for the wrong reasons, the crowd had no true desire to be a part of Jesus flock. After Jesus explains to them what it really means to follow Him, we are told that many of those disciples left Him.

When Jesus looked at the 12 and asked them if they wanted to leave as well Peter responded, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

What say you? Are you apart of God’s flock or do you belong   to the evil one? Do you hear the Shepherd’s voice and follow Him? Those who belong to the Shepherd hear His voice when they read His Word, the Bible, and when  they hear the      preaching of His word. When you belong to God’s flock you   will hunger and thirst after righteousness and you will deny yourself and follow your Shepherd, Jesus Christ, every day.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark