Wandering Sheep

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. ~ John 10:27-30

From the lips of the perfect Son of God, Jesus warrants the safety of our soul on the credibility of His Father. His grip is more than secure. His grasp is more than tight.

Jesus knew. He was well aware that the uncertainty of our situations would have to collide with a force of devastating strength. He knew that self-confidence, that affluence, that pride, that self-pity, that power would provide the green grass that attracts wandering sheep. He knew that the enemy – crafty, deceptive, evil, polluted, hateful and attractive – would do everything and anything to draw us.

That is why Jesus uses metaphor and not parable. He wanted to make sure that there was absolutely no missing His guarantee. “No one,” and again, “no one” will snatch them out of the Father’s hand. And Jesus declares that His Father “is greater than all.”

Sheep, like us, prone to wander, now riveted to the palm of Almighty.

I’m certain that Jesus knew that there would be times in all of our lives when we would wonder, when we would doubt, when events and pain and catastrophe would wedge a crowbar against our resolve, which is exactly why He anchored our confidence in “My Father.” The I AM. The Creator.

The limitless grip of God holds us tight. He will never let us go. He will never relinquish control.

The voice of the shepherd is reassuring. He makes promises and keeps them.

“My Father, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Nothing, no one, never.