Hearing the Voice of the Shepherd

UV 3426/10000 Sheep Hear the Voice of the Shepherd

The sheep that are My own hear My voice and listen to Me; I know them, and they follow Me.
John 10 v 27

Our relationship with Jesus is just the same as that of sheep with the shepherd. Just as the sheep recognize the voice of only the shepherd, we hear and recognize His voice. We obey His call, His voice, His word. He knows us thoroughly and the differences and needs of each of us. We follow Him faithfully and obey Him. But unlike the sheep, we sheople also are deceived by other voices. We sometimes get distracted by these other voices and get led away from the good Shepherd, Jesus. The Shepherd protects us from spiritual predators, from things that are harmful or poisonous to us, thorns that could hurt us, from flood waters that could drown us. He also takes responsibility to provide for us, to feed us with wholesome food. He causes us to grow and stay healthy. Jesus is the Shepherd who owns us and we do His will and not our own. Just as sheep completely trust the shepherd, we trust the Lord. The shepherd is competent to handle all types of threats, dangers, contingencies, weather conditions, all types of terrain whether mountains or valleys, hard ground or marshes or water holes. When He does not take us to the food and water, He brings the food and water to us. Unlike the shepherd, the Lord is all knowing, all powerful, all loving, omnipresent. He is able to restore our souls, our minds, our emotions of peace and joy. He is able to replace despair with hope. He replaces fear with faith, weaknesses with strength and grace, folly with wisdom. While we hear His voice, He hears the very beat of our heart, the bleated whisper of our souls.

Unlike sheep, we are not to be naïve but wise sheep, shrewd as the serpent and gentle as the dove, able to discern the wolf who comes in sheep skin. We do not judge things by the superficial but by the supernatural. We rejoice in the word as sheep delight in green pastures. We are not tempted even if the grass on the other side of the fence seems greener. He shines a light on the paths we should take in the darkness. We avoid the snares and traps of the common enemy of all human beings and walk in straight paths where we have clear and full vision of what lies ahead of us. The natural shepherd can be overpowered by someone or something stronger than him while Jesus has bound the strong one who is against us. He embraced death to make it a doorway to eternal life for us.


The Lord leads to still waters or things that refresh, renew and rejoice our hearts. We do not fear the future or remain anxious about any need not being met or threat arising. The natural shepherd can only lead us to external streams to quench our thirst while the Supernatural Shepherd will cause the streams of living water of the Holy Spirit to flow in us. We are not concerned with ambitions and projects too great for us but are contented to follow Jesus wherever He leads us. We have no leader apart from Jesus but just as a shepherd uses dogs to help them, the Lord uses angels and mentors to guide and groom us. Just as the sheep multiply and yield wool to keep people warm, we too are to bear fruit and increase our yield for the Lord. The natural shepherd cannot guarantee the sheep will live long or forever while the Good Shepherd Jesus guarantees we will live forever. He satisfies and fulfills our desire for eternal life.