NEVER ABANDONED
John 10:11-13
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
I had wandered off chasing after a squirrel I had heard chattering in a nearby oak tree. I had asked my dad if I could go after him. He told me that I could, and I started sneaking up the hill my little 410 shotgun under my arm. After a hundred yards or so I lost track of the squirrel and decided to head back to where I left my dad along the creek. I was only about 12 and I quickly became concerned about whether I could find him again.
I wandered downhill to where I thought he was. I began softly whistling hoping he would hear me. I didn’t want to yell as I didn’t want to look like a little boy. I got more and more frightened although looking back I was only a couple hundred yards from our cabin. I kept softly whistling with no response. I wondered if dad had moved on without me or headed back to camp. Why wasn’t he answering me or coming to look for me? I couldn’t understand.
After what seemed like an hour, but was probably just a few minutes, I got back to where I had left dad along the creek… and there he was right where I had left him. I was so happy to have gotten close to him again.
Do you ever find yourself wondering where God has gone? If we are honest, we have to admit that sometimes we wonder if He really is beside us. Often, we put ourselves in a place where we cry out and all that seems to come back to us is our own echo. That is the place where we feel like we’re under constant attack and facing it all alone. We feel like our shield is pretty dinged up from the battle that is coming down on us... It’s a place where we feel . . . well, lost.
When he come to these places in life that we must remind ourselves of who Jesus is. He is the Good Shepherd. Not only does He lay down His life for His sheep, He would never abandon us when we’re under attack. This is no hired hand we’re dealing with here, He’s the shepherd that loves us enough to die for us.
From the above verse, I have learned that it is the sheep that scatter. It is I who runs away, not my Savior. Like my dad when we were squirrel hunting, He is always there waiting to care for me.
So today when I cry out and hear my own voice echo back, I will also strain to hear the One who leaves the rest in order to find me and bring me safely home where I belong. How about you? Are you within hearing of your shepherd?
Jesus told His disciples in a parable: in Luke 15:3-6
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep'”.
We are NEVER ABANDONED
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