Can you train a sheep to come?

Study notes, John 10.1-5

Believe it or not, you can train a sheep to come.

This is still the main way of raising sheep in some parts of the world.
Instead of putting up fences to contain sheep, or using dogs to chase sheep, a shepherd will walk ahead of the sheep. He will talk or sing, and the sheep will follow him.

At night different flocks of sheep will all be mixed together in a common pen. The shepherd will arrive in the morning, Starbucks in hand, and start calling his sheep. "Come Flossie, come Bossie, come Mossie." The sheep hear the voice of their shepherd, hear their name being called, and come. The other sheep will stay in the pen, and only that shepherd's sheep will come out. Then the shepherd will walk out for the day, leading his sheep.

The sheep know the voice of the shepherd, and the shepherd knows his sheep.

Jesus used this same illustration: He knows his sheep. He knows your name, he knows what you like and don't like, everything. After all, he made you.

And, we can learn to recognize his voice. He calls us by name; often we're too scattered or distracted to hear it. But we can slow down, listen and hear: the voice of God speaking. And somehow, you just know it's God. And you know what he's saying.