Who are we following?

John 10:3b-4

He calls his own sheep BY NAME and leads them out.

When he has brought out all his own,

            HE GOES ON AHEAD  OF THEM,

And his sheep follow him,

            BECAUSE THEY KNOW HIS VOICE.

From the world’s perspective, what we are doing does not make sense.  But we are not following the world.  Jesus has sacrificed all He had to win our souls.  Out of love, He paid the ransom that we needed.  So now, it only makes sense that we would follow where He leads.

The analogy of the sheep following the shepherd really stands out to me.  I don’t think I had noticed before how the shepherd is going out in front of the sheep.  The picture in my mind was usually the shepherd behind or beside the sheep…herding them in the direction he wants them to go.  But, thinking of the shepherd bravely walking in front and all the sheep following him, because they know His voice-that is such a comforting image.  We are not walking into some unknown territory or future as the leader.  Jesus is already there, in front of us, guiding us with His words of truth.  Sometimes it might feel like we are blindly walking into something…yet if we are following His leading and direction, we can be comforted to know that HE is AHEAD of us.

I want to follow my shepherd.  I trust that He knows what is best for me.  I want to know His voice well, so that when I am tempted to doubt, I can recognize His Truth and stand firm on it.