In John 10:3 Jesus says, “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”  This is an interesting phenomenon in shepherding. The sheep know the voice of their own shepherd. They will not follow another shepherd who is calling sheep. Shepherds would put their sheep with other shepherd’s sheep in the sheep pen. So the sheep are all mixed up in the pen. The shepherd needs to do nothing more than call for his sheep and only those that are his will come out to him.  What a beautiful picture Jesus gives us to understand His heart.   Jesus is the shepherd gathering his sheep by calling them. The sheep know his voice and follow him (10:4).  This is the first way we can know if we are his sheep. We hear the voice of Jesus and we follow him.  The blind man in chapter 9 heard the voice of Jesus and desires to follow Him, the religious leaders on the other hand are deaf to His voice. Therefore, they are still in their sins.

Do we know the voice of Jesus?  There are a million voices out there calling people to all kinds of strange beliefs.   Jesus says that his sheep run away from anyone who is not the true shepherd.  They do not go after false ways.  The Pharisees show us that it is possible to think you belong to God and not belong at all! This should cause us to seriously question if we truly listen to the voice of Jesus and follow only him. Do you know his teachings? Do you read his words? Do you do exactly what he says? Do you follow him wherever he goes? Eastern shepherds did not and still do not drive sheep. They lead their sheep and their sheep follow them. Jesus does not drive his sheep. He is leading. Are you following him?