The Good Shepherd

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 313, The Good Shepherd.

"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." John 10:11.

Notice how Jesus starts: "I am." It's not just a casual introduction. It's the same name God used when He spoke to Moses at the burning bush — "I Am who I Am." Every time Jesus says "I am" followed by an image — the bread of life, the light of the world, the way, the truth, the life — He is making a direct claim: I am God, and this is how I choose to reveal myself to you today.

And today He chooses to reveal Himself as a shepherd. A good shepherd.

Jesus makes a point of marking that difference right after: there is the good shepherd, and there is the hired hand — the employee who tends the sheep only as long as he's being paid, and who runs at the first sign of danger, because the sheep were never really his. Jesus' care for you isn't like that. It's not a contractual obligation He fulfills with the least possible effort. It's genuine. It's chosen. It's permanent.

And look at the verb He uses: "lays down his life." Not "loses his life," not "has his life taken by accident." Lays down. An active verb, a decision. The cross wasn't a tragic surprise that caught Jesus off guard. It was a voluntary act of love. He saw the danger coming — the wolf, sin, death — and chose to place Himself between you and that threat, handing over His own life so that you could live.

And it doesn't stop there. In the verses that follow, Jesus keeps describing this relationship: He knows His sheep by name, and they recognize His voice among all the other voices shouting in the world. This isn't distant, generic care — like a shepherd who tends the flock as a whole without paying attention to each individual animal. It's intimate. He knows you. He knows your name, your story, the weight you're carrying today.

I want to ask you: have you been recognizing your Shepherd's voice lately? Because there are so many voices competing for your attention — the voice of anxiety, the voice of comparison, the voice of exhaustion telling you that you're alone in this. But the good Shepherd is speaking too. And He has already proven, with His own life laid down, that you can trust His voice more than any other.

So today, I want to invite you to set aside five minutes — just five — in real silence. No phone nearby. Read a short passage from John chapter 10, and ask God, "What does my Shepherd want to say to me right now?" And wait. Listen. His voice is different from all the others, and the more you listen for it, the easier it becomes to recognize.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.