Are you being led or driven? 

Do you know his voice? 

 

I learnt something interesting this week regarding shepherds.

“On one of my trips to Israel I once saw a man behind a flock of sheep, driving them down the road by holding out two long sticks, one on either side, in an attempt to force them to stay together in front of him. Puzzled that I had never seen a shepherd lead his sheep like that, I asked my guide, Zvi, “Why is that shepherd driving his sheep that way? I’ve never seen that before.” “Oh,” he answered. “That’s not a shepherd. That’s a butcher. He has bought those sheep and now he has to drive them to the slaughterhouse. They won’t follow him, because they don’t know him. He can’t lead them, so he has to drive them.”

Shepherds lead from the front. Butchers drive from behind.

It makes me think of a passage of Scripture found in the book of John.

John 10:3-5 KJV - To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

What a beautiful word picture we have here in John’s gospel. I had never really thought about the position of the shepherd in relation to a herd of sheep. I mean, I know some of the basics of ancient shepherding techniques but never before had I seen it put so clearly in illustrating so well the importance of the shepherd.

Look at some of the phrases found in these verses.

“the sheep hear his voice”, “leadeth them out”, “the sheep follow him”, “they know his voice” and finally and so importantly, “they know NOT the voice of strangers”.

There are many references to sheep in the Bible. 187 of them as a matter of fact and 43 references to shepherds. And there are many more verses that refer to a lamb or THE lamb as well. Needless to say, sheep and shepherds were very relatable to people in Bible times and the stories told only helped to make clear the message God was trying to get across.

When we look at verse 4, we see that the shepherd ‘goes before’ his sheep. In Bible times, the shepherds would gather their sheep into a communal pen at night for protection. When dawn came and the sun began to peek over the horizon, each shepherd would call his sheep, and no matter how many sheep there were, each shepherd’s particular sheep would follow the sound of his voice.

The beautiful imagery we find here in this passage not only highlights the personal relationship between the shepherd and his sheep, but it also symbolizes Jesus’ relationship with His children.

Each shepherd knew his own sheep. Individually. Personally. And it is the same with Jesus. It reflects the knowledge and care Jesus has for His followers.

John 10:14 KJV - I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

We have only to look at Psalm 23 to read about the Lord Jesus’ care for us.

In thinking of this example of the shepherd in Israel and the man driving the sheep from behind, I was so intrigued that the shepherd leads and the one who does not have ownership or relationship with the sheep, drives them. One leads. One drives.

The leading of the shepherd demonstrates guidance and protection. As the shepherd lead his sheep, he would not only be looking for the green pastures and good feeding grounds, but he was also on high alert for predators or anything that may cause harm to his sheep.

As the shepherd leads the way, we see that the sheep follow him. Why? Why do the sheep follow their shepherd? Because they know his voice.

It was essential for the sheep to know and recognize their own shepherd’s voice. There had to be an unmistakable familiarity between the sheep and the shepherd for the sheep to feel safe enough to follow the shepherd and to know which voice to follow.

John 10:27 KJV - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Did you notice whose voice they don’t know and won’t follow? Have a look at verse 5.

John 10:5 KJV - And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

They don’t know the stranger’s voice. Sheep will not follow a stranger because they don’t recognize his voice. There is no relationship there. There is no familiarity. No trust.

The reason that the butcher had to drive the sheep is because they didn’t know his voice. He couldn’t lead them. So, he had to drive them.

Isn’t it amazing that as God’s children, we know, or we should know, his voice. We should be so much in tune with God through our personal relationship with him, through our daily communing with him, that we instantly recognize his voice.

And because we know him, we can trust him.

This leads me to a point I want to make. When we find ourselves weighed down with worries and burdened with anxious thoughts, we have only to look to the shepherd. We have only to listen for his voice as he leads us.

When sheep trust their shepherd and know his voice from constant interaction with him, they can be content in letting him lead the way, knowing that he will take them on the path they need to go, resting along the way, offering nourishment and avoiding the things that would harm them.

And so it is with us. As we walk with Jesus, day after day, connecting with him through prayer and reading of His word, listening to His still, small voice, we develop a life of trust, recognizing his voice and allowing our anxieties to be cast on him, letting him lead the way.

When we add tomorrow’s burden to today’s, the weight is often more than we can bear. As Corrie Ten Boom so aptly put it, “Worry (and anxiety) does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, it empties today of its strength”

If we find ourselves in this overwhelmed, overloaded state, remember, it’s not God’s doing, it’s ours!

F.B.Meyer put it plainly when he said, “This is the blessed life-not anxious to see far in front, nor eager to choose the path, but quietly following behind the shepherd, one step at a time. The shepherd was always out in front of the sheep. He was down in front. Any attack upon them had to take him into account. Now God is down in front. He is in the tomorrows. It is tomorrow that fills men with dread. God is there already. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass Him before they can get to us.”

Did you see that? God is already in my tomorrows, in your tomorrows. And that is why we can trust him. That is why we can cast our anxieties on him. In humbleness, we throw our cares upon him (1 Peter 5:6-7) and he bears our burdens on his shoulders.

And you know what is so wonderful? If we can stop worrying about tomorrow, we can work on trusting God today, and living out his purpose and plan fully and wholeheartedly today, knowing that he knows the path that lies ahead, and he will lead as we listen for his voice and follow it.

It is not the strangers voice we should follow. The stranger that masquerades as the Devil, but disguises himself as many other things. It’s not the lies he feeds us that we should follow.

If we know the Lord Jesus’ voice, that is the voice we should be following. He is not driving us from behind. He is leading from ahead.

Everything he is going to take us through has to pass through him to get to us. He decides what we go through. We decide the attitude we have as we walk through it.

Is our attitude one of worry and anxiousness? Is it full of fretting and trembling in fear?

We have a good shepherd. A shepherd that knows us fully and yet loves us unconditionally.

He speaks and we need to be listening.

As we read the Word of God, we hear him. We hear his voice. We begin to understand more of his character. We allow ourselves to trust. We grow in our faith. And we obey his leading.

The more in tune we are with the Lord, the more we will recognize his voice and the less likely we will be to follow the voice of a stranger (or false teacher, or misguided friend, or deceitful liar, or sincere believer that is sincerely wrong with their advice).

It pays to walk close to the Lord through daily communication with him through prayer and study.

Not only will be more readily recognize his voice, but we will be less likely to develop an anxious spirit and a discontented heart.

We can walk in full assurance that God is in control of each and every situation. We can follow his leading, trusting him in the light and in the dark as we listen for his voice.

Don’t let the butcher drive you, let the shepherd lead you!

Psalm 23:4 KJV - Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.