We want to be known. Recently I ordered some illustrations from an online app. The potential illustrators kept calling me “dear!” Ugh! I’m considering gently reaching out to them to say that most of us just want to be called by our name. It’s friendly. It’s polite. It can be intimate – I love it when my dear husband, Fred, calls me by name.
We want to be recognized. Years ago, when my young husband died after a four-year battle with three cancers, I called three godly men from my high school and college days to tell them how much I appreciated their examples and influence in my life. I wanted them to know that I chose a godly husband because of them. Do you know what I remember most about those phone calls? We hadn’t seen or heard from each other in years, but they recognized my voice before I could even announce myself fully or properly, much less dive into the depths of the conversation!
We want to be known. We want to be recognized.
We should in turn know and recognize others in our lives and let them know we care.
***How do you wish to be known and recognized today?
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Knows Us
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows us – we are His sheep, His children. He wants us to know Him so intimately that we immediately recognize His voice when He calls to us.
Parable of the Good Shepherd – Luke 10
… 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
7 …Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
9 I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 … I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
11 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. … 14 I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, 15 even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. [bold mine]
I Am the Good Shepherd
Jesus offered the fourth of His seven “I am” statements in John’s Gospel: “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11) Jesus is not merely a shepherd; He is the Good Shepherd—uniquely good, true, righteous, and faithful.
According to these verses, Jesus rightfully bears the Good Shepherd title because:
- He lays down His life for His sheep. The Good Shepherd stays with His sheep. He defends them. He even willingly dies in their place. Jesus leads us, His followers, with self-sacrificial love.
- He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. He knows us, His followers; and we know Him and hear and recognize His voice.
He knows you!
***How have you felt fully known by the Lord this season?
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Knows His Sheep
and His Sheep Know Him and Recognize His Voice:
We Belong to Him!
I had an amazing roommate all 4 years of college at Baylor. Caety was friendly and fun, beautiful and smart. I watched her walk across a campus of >8,000 students and she had a smile and greeting for everyone. She always called people by name and asked after them in some way that assured them that she knew who they were, and that she had listened to and remembered their last conversations! And in turn, so many people knew her and remembered her!
Jesus knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. As His sheep, His followers, we have a blessed opportunity for an intimate relationship with Jesus. He knows everything about us – he knows what we do, where we go, what we think, what we say, all that we long for, and all that we need. He knows the number of hairs on our head, and the number of days allotted to us in life. He searches us, and knows us. He sent His Son to lay down His life for us in order that we may also know Him.
In Psalm 139, David tells us God knows us (v1-6), He encompasses and surrounds us (v7–14), He created us (v15–18), and He tests us (v19–24)!
And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
Hebrews 4:13, NASB
We want to be known. We want to be recognized. We should in turn know and recognize others in our lives and let them know we care. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, knows us – we are His sheep, His children. Jesus knows us fully – the good and the bad, yet “He is not ashamed or repulsed. Our sins and failings do not take Him by surprise. Our transgressions cannot diminish His love for us. In Christ, we are fully known and truly loved. We belong to Him, our Good Shepherd.” [2]
He wants us to know Him so intimately that we immediately recognize His voice when He calls to us. This doesn’t happen without some effort on our part!
Thank Him for knowing you and allowing you to know Him!
***What will you do today to intentionally and purposefully know the Lord?
Be Confident and Blessed,
Karen
Karen is the Founder of Karen Bourg Companies and the RHEMA Group (with her husband Fred). She works with Christian women as they confidently navigate their paths – in life, through trials, and as they serve the Lord by receiving insight [rhema] from the Lord within their God-given calling.
Confidently Navigating Our Paths in Life, through Trials, and as Entrepreneurs by Receiving Rhemas from the Lord
