John 10:27-28 – My sheep hear My voice, and I know
them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never
perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (NKJV)
My wife Ruth and I farmed on the shores of Kagawong
Lake on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, Canada. We had the privilege of raising
sheep for a number of years. Since then, we have also had the privilege of doing
short-term mission work in Bolivia, Brazil, and Rwanda. On most of these trips,
I have used today's verses from John 10.
My use of them stemmed from our buying the farm next
door from Mr. Brown. We had a large flock of sheep, and he also had about
twenty-five sheep. When he sold the farm to us, he and his wife kept their house
and garage. Later, we bought all his sheep at his dispersal auction sale. We
just opened the line fence and let all the sheep blend into one flock. Two years
later, as a regular occurrence, I was visiting Mr. Brown, and he challenged me.
He said, "You think all those sheep are yours."
I said, "I have a bill of sale to prove it."
There were probably at least ten of his original
twenty-five in my flock. They were perhaps a hundred yards down in the pasture
behind the garage. Mr. Brown called, and the ten left the flock and came to the
back of the garage, while the balance of seventy-five or eighty paid no
attention.
I used that scenario time and time again on my mission
trips, and I would say, "I am from Canada. I do not know any of you. You are
like my flock of sheep: some are white, some are darker, some have beautiful
hair, some are bald like me. But what matters is where your heart is. The Lord
Jesus is going to come back and call those who know and love Him to be with Him
eternally. It will be like Mr. Brown's sheep: only those who know the Saviour
will hear and understand the call. Make sure that you know Christ as your
personal Saviour so that you will answer the call of the Master as Mr. Brown's
sheep answered his call."
Prayer: Lord, we pray that each one reading this
devotional has had, or will have a personal experience of accepting the Lord
Jesus as their personal Saviour and are anticipating the call of the Master. May
we all meet in heaven one day! Amen.
John Rowe Elliot
Lake, Ontario, Canada
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