Month 6:09, Week 2:1 (Rishon/Pesach), Year 5935:151 AM
Teshuvah 9/40
Gregorian Calendar: Wednesday 7 September 2011
The Good Shepherd
He Knows Your Name
"He calls his own sheep by name" (John 10:3, NKJV).
There is, I think you'll agree, a huge difference between the care which an owner gives and that which a servant or hireling gives. There is a huge difference between the way a true mother looks after her child and the way a hired guardian or state-employed foster parent does it. This is especially so when the child is ill or in danger. The hired guardian or state-hired foster parent serves for pay - the mother serves for ahavah (love). Yah'shua (Jesus) "the Good Shepherd" (Jn.10:11,14) is the owner of His sheep just as a husband is the owner of his wife.
There is something very special and warming in the thought that believers are Yah'shua's (Jesus') own. It suggests how dear they are to Him. "Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end" (John 13:1, NKJV). This thought also brings with it the assurance of ahavah (love) and care. His will is that "His own" shall be with Him forever. This thought also suggests much, therefore, about our duty to Yah'shua (Jesus). If we are "His own" He has the entire right to the disposal of our lives and our services.
I think there is also something very wonderful in the realisation that Yah'shua (Jesus) calls His sheep by their individual names. There are, sad to say, some pastors who don't know their people by name when they only have a few hundred to know. Maybe they should either pastor smaller congregations or spend more time getting to know their sheep. Yah'shua (Jesus) has millions scattered across the world and it is perhaps hard for us to realise that every one of these He knows personally by name. The Scriptures tell us that He calls the stars by their names. And how many stars are their in the Cosmos? Trillions upon trillions!
If you are alone, in a great city, surrounded by millions, or in the middle of nowhere surrounded by no one, know that the Master knows your name. Widow, windower, single mother, single father, child, orphan, outcast - no matter who you are, or what your situation, He knows your name. If you are completely alone without a single friend...well, you aren't alone! This ought to be a very precious emet (truth) to everyone who loves Messiah and belongs to Him. He knows if any of His own are suffering or in need, or if they are in danger; and He will never neglect even the least of them.
Share
|