I only have eyes for Ewe

Posted by javadawn on January 28, 2007 · 11 Comments 

One set of our spiritual parents went to the Holy Land for their anniversary. They had longed to go for many years, and finally they were able to go. (This was such a precious gift from Father, because within 18 mo, the wife had passed away! Truly our Lord was gracious to allow them this longed for, much dreamt about trip!)

After they returned home, we went for dinner and to hear all about the trip. They shared that in the two weeks they were in Jerusalem, there were 2 things in particular that absolutely blew them away. One, was the fact that they could stand at the bottom of the hill that Jesus preached The Beatitudes from and hear anything spoken, at the top, in crystal clarity. Father has shaped the hill in such a way that the acoustics were beyond comparison to anything our friends had ever seen or heard. It was a point of worship for them.

The other powerful issue involved strange noises and wooly creatures. Every day, at the end of the work time, they made it a point to be at the side of town where the sheep were kept. It was a powerful time of training for them.

You see, all the shepherds in the entire area, put their sheep into one pen. They do not keep their sheep marked, so it provided quite a measure of trust to do this, wouldn’t you think? On the contrary….each shepherd spoke to his sheep all day long. Over and over and over, in the same tonal pattern. It wasn’t exactly words, but it was patterns of clicking and noises. Over and over and over….day in and day out…again and again and again.

At the end of the day, the gate was opened and the shepherd would walk up to it, making his own peculiar set of noises. All his sheep would separate themselves from the “clump” and follow him home. The sheep that were not his either didn’t even give notice to him or they would flee. It was as though they only had ears for their shepherd.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

It is imperative in this day and age that we know our Shepherd’s voice. We learn that voice by being in the Word and by praying. We must remain near to Him, all day long, that we might be able to learn His peculiar call, that we might be quick to obey and follow.

Molly has been having a discussion about the value of the Word of God vs the Voice of God. I will openly say, I am lost without them both. I am a sheep of much wool of the brain (I think I hear a new Aristocratic Title coming…. Dawn the Muchwool of the Brainshire…okay, maybe not) and I find that without both of them, I would be left sitting in the pen, with no Shepherd – where it is likely I would starve or be eaten by a roaring lion, seeking to devour me. Like the sheep, I too know it is imperative that I spend my day learning…working to know the voice of my Shepherd and not just presume that I will hear rightly.

” I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Lord Jesus, You are indeed the Good Shepherd. Help me…help us to have eyes and ears for You alone. Keep me…keep us from deception Lord…help us to know You.

Filed under Bible/Theology, God-ward Musings