Knowing Him Is Rest

It’s audio devo day!

One of the most important things you will ever learn of Jesus is that He is your Good Shepherd. He takes singular responsibility for your care. Lean in and listen for the voice of the One who would make you lie down in green pastures today. Receive refreshing as you listen here:

(Know someone else that needs to hear this today? You can either share today’s blog link with them, or look up my Feeding on Jesus podcast for sharing and subscribing. You’ll find it at these links on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, and most other podcast platforms, with episodes identical to these audio devos!)

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“He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out… They follow him because they know his voice.  But they will never follow a stranger” (John 10:3-5, NCV).

A podcast series on soul rest would be incomplete without an in-depth look at our Good Shepherd. So we are going to start today by leaning deeply into these words from Jesus:

“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” (John 10:14-15, ESV).

You are Jesus’ sheep. Today, you are seen. You are known. You are loved. You are perfectly loved. You belong to the Good Shepherd, and He knows you intimately. He knows every move you make, from when you wake up in the morning, on throughout every minute of your day. He listens compassionately to every thought of your heart. He knows your every word before it even takes shape on your tongue. He knows the good. He knows the bad. And, knowing all, He loves you perfectly… everlastingly.

Not only does He know you this way, but, as His sheep, you have the privilege of knowing Him, to an astonishing degree of intimacy. Just how intimate is that? Take another listen to this verse:

“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” (John 10:14-15, ESV).

“Just as” the Father and the Son know each other… that’s how intimate. Is that not mind-boggling? How well do the Father and the Son know each other? Jesus says here that we sheep and our Good Shepherd know each other “just as” They do. The very same way. The very same kind of familiarity, intimacy, comfort, and closeness. The most intimate relationship in the universe, that of the Godhead, is held up as the model for our intimacy with our Good Shepherd.

Herein lies rest for our souls. Remember how we’ve been talking about the way the revelation of Jesus’ heart brings our soul into rest? Remember how He said, “Learn of Me… and you will find rest for your souls?” Here is one of the most vital things you will ever learn of Him. He is your Good Shepherd. You mean more to Him that His own life on earth did. He laid it down for you. He eagerly gave it, to make you His forever. Self-disclosing to us, He whispers to our hearts, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11, ESV).

Knowing the Good Shepherd who would give everything for you is how to live at rest. The longer you follow Him, the better you learn how breathtakingly good He is. When you are weary, He makes you lie down in green pastures. When you are parched with thirst, He leads you beside quiet waters. He makes sure you have all you need for replenishing. All your life long, He restores your soul as often as you need Him to. He takes singular responsibility for your care.

Your Good Shepherd came to give you life. He tells us in this same passage, “I am the door, and the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and go out and find pasture” (John 10:9, NCV). The word “saved” here in the Greek is sozo. Sozo means “safe and sound,” “healed,” “delivered,” “protected,” “preserved,” “made whole,” “rescued,” “restored,” and “saved.”

Wow! All of this and more is part of the “abundant life” package that your Good Shepherd laid down His life to purchase for you. This is what He meant when He said in the next verse, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10, MSG). He came to rescue you. He came to deliver you. He came to save you. He came to protect you, to keep you safe and sound. He came to heal you. He came to restore you. He came to make you whole.

Some time ago, I read about the experience a brother in the Lord had when he visited the Holy Land. He had the joy of visiting a shepherd of sheep in that amazing place. Just as John 10 talks about, this man would call his sheep by name. They would eagerly come to him when he did so. This visiting brother asked if he could call the sheep to himself like that. The shepherd smiled and said, he could try, but they would not respond to him.

So he did try. He called and called, using the names he’d heard the shepherd employ. But the sheep acted as if he did not exist. They only would respond to the voice of their true shepherd. Why? Because the shepherd and the sheep know each other intimately. The sheep will not follow the voice of a stranger.

In the same way, you were born to intimately know the Shepherd of your soul. When you were born anew, you received a new nature from God. Now, knowing His voice is in your very nature. You were created anew to know Him, to walk with Him, to respond to His voice. Every day, He calls you by name. He does this in an exquisitely tailor-made fashion. He speaks to your heart in a way that is incredibly personalized, that reflects His intimate knowledge of you.

He knows your name, your identity. Remember, your name is written on His hands. He knows you better than you even know yourself, knows even the most subtle nuances of who you are. Knowing you, He calls you unto Himself, that He might guide you into those abundant pastures, that He might give you that life more abundantly.

Do you hear it? Your Good Shepherd is tenderly calling out your name right now. Come unto Him. Remember this today: Knowing Him is sozo; it’s salvation. Knowing Him is life in all its fullness. Knowing Him is rest for your soul.

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Have you ever had something happen that amazed you, that said loudly, “God knows all my intimate details!”, and that made you feel wonderfully loved by Him?