Mar 4, 2017

A daily devotional through the recorded words Jesus spoke while He walked alongside us. Our website http://alittlewalkwithgod.com.

1. Thanks for joining me today for "A Little Walk with God." I'm your host Richard Agee.
2. We can learn a lot from shepherds. Stick around and I'll tell you about the one I met in Germany.
3. Scripture
   1. John 10:1-5
   2. Jesus: I tell you the truth: the man who crawls through the fence of the sheep pen, rather than walking through the gate, is a thief or a vandal. The shepherd walks openly through the entrance. The guard who is posted to protect the sheep opens the gate for the shepherd, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When all the sheep have been gathered, he walks on ahead of them; and they follow him because they know his voice. The sheep would not be willing to follow a stranger; they run because they do not know the voice of a stranger.
4. Devotional
   1. While living in Germany, we lived above some vineyards but also had some pretty good pasture land in the back of the house above those vineyards even though we lived in the suburbs of Wurzburg. A few times during our stay there, we had a shepherd visit those fields.
      1. Weather beaten and aged
      2. Two dogs to help care for the sheep
      3. Carried everything he needed on his back and herded the sheep to open fields around the countryside ‘
      4. Build makeshift pens at night with poles and rope
      5. Laid his lean to across the entrance
   2. Dogs were an important tool for the shepherd
      1. Protected the sheep
      2. Kept enemy away
      3. Kept sheep herded into a common area
      4. Listened to every command
      5. Obeyed immediately
   3. Sheep recognized the shepherd’s voice, too
      1. Called and they would gather around him
      2. Knew it was time to move on
      3. Time to bed down
      4. Time of safety or time of danger
   4. Animals seem to learn so much faster than people sometimes
      1. Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd
      2. After watching that shepherd in Germany a few times I learned a lot about how shepherds interact with their sheep
      3. Not always gentle, but always loving and with their best interests in mind
      4. Not always the easiest path, but the path that will get them to the best pastures in the end
      5. Not always the way that seems best to the sheep and He has to push and pull them sometimes with those dogs nipping at their heels until they sometimes bleed, but always taking the best care of them
      6. They hear his voice and follow wherever he leads them
   5. We could learn a lot from those sheep and the good shepherd
5. If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don't, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for "A Little Walk with God."