“Who wants to…?” Before I got any further, Thomas and Amelia dropped what they had been doing and raced for the kitchen. “I want to do it, Yolly!” Amelia’s words were interrupted by Thomas’s. “You did it last time. It’s my turn.” “No I didn’t.” Whether it’s carrying a piece of cardboard to the recycling bin in the garage or choosing apples from the crisper drawer for snacks or a recipe, sometimes I have no shortage of helpers. At other times, it’s difficult to garner anyone’s interest.
If I see Ezra zeroing in on Amelia as she constructs an elaborate magna-tile creation, I may attempt to draw his attention away by offering him a job to do. It would work except for the fact that Amelia, keyed in on my offers for help, comes running instead, abandoning her project to be smashed by her little brother. I have not been able to convince her that she’s not missing out when I offer Ezra chores he enjoys.
“Let me set this before you as plainly as I can.
If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler!
The shepherd walks right up to the gate.
The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice.
They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”
Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about.
So he tried again.
“I’ll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep.
All those others are up to no good—sheep rustlers, every one of them.
But the sheep didn’t listen to them.
I am the Gate.
Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture.
A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy.
I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary.
A hired man is not a real shepherd.
The sheep mean nothing to him.
He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf.
He’s only in it for the money.
The sheep don’t matter to him.
I am the Good Shepherd.
I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me.
In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father.
I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary.
You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen.
I need to gather and bring them, too.
They’ll also recognize my voice.
Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life.
And so I am free to take it up again.
No one takes it from me.
I lay it down of my own free will.
I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again.
I received this authority personally from my Father.””
John 10:1-18 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/jhn.10.1-18.MSG
To eagerly follow God’s commands, to run along His path with joy and speed, requires a heart expansion, a broadening of the heart from a place of limited understanding to one of loving obedience. Heart surgery is both complicated and risky. My daddy grew up with a bicuspid valve. Two leaflets where there should have been three caused him no perceivable issues until he became a grandfather. Open heart surgery was required to replace his defective valve and repair the damage it had caused. He has since had that valve replaced again and it not only prolonged his life but has greatly improved its quality. Refusing surgery would have been even more risky.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”
Jeremiah 17:9 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jer.17.9.NASB1995
“People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.
The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.”
Proverbs 21:2-3 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.21.2-3.NLT
One of my grandchildren’s favorite board books, Psalms of Praise, A Movement Primer by Danielle Hitchen https://a.co/d/0ai8qxb0 offers a great way to start each day and many times, it has restored sanity when acid hours hit. Selected verses are paired with movements from walking to running and jumping while offering God the praise He is due. I may be guilty of exaggerating the movements for effect but I bring a sincere heart filled with praise to my Heavenly Father. My grandchildren joining in fuels my praise! I believe His plans for me are for my good and for His glory so I listen for His voice, eager to follow in His steps.
“I run along the path of your commands, for you enable me to do so.
Teach me, O Lord, the lifestyle prescribed by your statutes, so that I might observe it continually.
Give me understanding so that I might observe your law, and keep it with all my heart.
Guide me in the path of your commands, for I delight to walk in it.”
Psalms 119:32-35 NET
https://bible.com/bible/107/psa.119.34.NET
“Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.”
Psalms 51:10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.51.10.NLT
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”
Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.139.23-24.NLT
“Have you never heard?
Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:28-31 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.40.28-31.NLT
““Look at that man, bloated by self-importance— full of himself but soul-empty.
But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive.”
Habakkuk 2:4 MSG
A Fitting Reply 