Know Me

Alnwick, England

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, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one shepherd.
-John 10.14-16

Only those people closest to me really know me. It is those people who know my passions, gifts, and dreams, and who love that I am exactly who I am meant to be. They are those who listen to my stories and offer me their honest opinions. They don't hold back their stories from me and it becomes a shared knowing. It includes those who encourage me to follow my dreams and remind me that God works in mysterious ways and it is okay to live among all those mysteries and questions. Amidst busy schedules and so much to attend to, they still make time for me.

It makes me joyful to be known by these people. I don't feel like I have to fake a smile or act like I am all put together when I may feel like I am crumbling. And I can always be myself.

Isn't it amazing that Jesus is one of those people? In John 10.14-16 Jesus says that He knows us and we know Him, if we are His own. To be known is deep. It's not a casual acquaintance. It is intimate. There are matters of the heart that I choose to tell certain people; things that I do not want broadcast to everyone who can hear.

Jesus calls Himself the good shepherd because a good shepherd would lay his life down for his sheep, and Jesus did that for us, His sheep. One doesn't lay down their life for something they only mildly like. It is going to be a deep love that provokes it.
A gift undeserved.
His love abounds.