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The Shepherd Knows Every Sheep, July 8
Fear not; for I have ... called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
Isaiah 43:1
.
Of all creatures the sheep is one of the most timid and helpless, and in the East
the shepherd’s care for his flock is untiring and incessant. Anciently as now there
was little security outside of the walled towns. Marauders from the roving border
tribes, or beasts of prey from their hiding places in the rocks, lay in wait to plunder
the flocks. The shepherd watched his charge, knowing that it was at the peril of
his own life. Jacob, who kept the flocks of Laban in the pasture grounds of Haran,
describing his own unwearied labor, said, “In the day the drought consumed me, and
the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my eyes” (
Genesis 31:40
). And it was
while guarding his father’s sheep that the boy David, single-handed, encountered
the lion and the bear, and rescued from their teeth the stolen lamb.
As the shepherd leads his flock over the rocky hills, through forest and wild
ravines, to grassy nooks by the riverside; as he watches them on the mountains
through the lonely night, shielding from robbers, caring tenderly for the sickly and
feeble, his life comes to be one with theirs. A strong and tender attachment unites
him to the objects of his care. However large the flock, the shepherd knows every
sheep. Every one has its name, and responds to the name at the shepherd’s call.
As an earthly shepherd knows his sheep, so does the divine shepherd know His
flock that are scattered throughout the world. “Ye my flock, the flock of my pasture,
are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.” Jesus says, “I have called thee
by thy name; thou art mine.” “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands”
(
Ezekiel 34:31
;
Isaiah 43:1
;
49:16
).
Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
He knows us all by name. He knows the very house in which we live, the name of
each occupant. He has at times given directions to His servants to go to a certain
street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His sheep.
Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the
Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His heart. The cry for aid reaches
His ear. He came to draw all men unto Himself. He bids them, “Follow me,” and
His Spirit moves upon their hearts to draw them to come to Him. Many refuse to be
drawn. Jesus knows who they are. He also knows who gladly hear His call, and are
ready to come under His pastoral care. He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me.” He cares for each one as if there were not another
on the face of the earth (
The Desire of Ages, 478-480
).
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