“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27

If you were to take a poll of my neighborhood as to the most popular pet, I am sure dogs would win hands down. Yet there is only one dog that comes running when he hears my voice (at least, when he chooses to do so!). Toby knows his master’s voice. In Jesus’s day, no one had dogs as pets, but the sight of a shepherd with his sheep was very common. Consequently, the Bible uses this image to describe the relationship between the Lord and His people. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and those who trust in Him are His sheep. But how do we know we are His sheep? In John 10:27, Jesus describes the character of His sheep.

Those who belong to Christ listen to His voice. Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice.” They do this because they know the voice to be His (see v. 4). He has made them able to recognize His voice (v. 16), and they delight in it as a bridegroom delights to hear the voice of his beloved.  They make it their practice to listen to His word, like Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus (Luke 10:38-42). We show that we are Jesus’ sheep when we make it our practice to read, listen to, and take to heart His word, that is, the Bible. If that is all we do, however, we should have no confidence that we are His.

Those who belong to Christ also obey Him. Jesus says, “…they follow me.” Jesus called His disciples with these words, “Follow me.” He says in John 8:31, “If you hold to my teaching you are really my disciples.” It is not enough to listen to and to know the Word of God. Those who belong to Christ also seek to obey it, to do it. James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James further says in verse 25, “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” Jesus’ sheep not only listen to His word, but they strive to live in obedience to it. And there lies great blessing.