Of
all creatures the sheep is one of the most timid and helpless, and in
the East the shepherd’s care for his flock is untiring and incessant.
Anciently as now there was little security outside of the walled towns.
Marauders from the roving border tribes, or beasts of prey from their
hiding places in the rocks, lay in wait to plunder the flocks. The
shepherd watched his charge, knowing that it was at the peril of his own
life. Jacob, who kept the flocks of Laban in the pasture grounds of
Haran, describing his own unwearied labor, said, “In the day the drought
consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my
eyes” (Genesis 31:40). And it was while guarding his father’s sheep that
the boy David, single-handed, encountered the lion and the bear, and
rescued from their teeth the stolen lamb.
As
the shepherd leads his flock over the rocky hills, through forest and
wild ravines, to grassy nooks by the riverside; as he watches them on
the mountains through the lonely night, shielding from robbers, caring
tenderly for the sickly and feeble, his life comes to be one with
theirs. A strong and tender attachment unites him to the objects of his
care. However large the flock, the shepherd knows every sheep. Every one
has its name, and responds to the name at the shepherd’s call.
As
an earthly shepherd knows his sheep, so does the divine shepherd know
His flock that are scattered throughout the world. “Ye my flock, the
flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.”
Jesus says, “I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." Ezekiel 34:31; Isaiah 43:1: Isaiah 49:16).
Jesus knows us individually, and is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows us all by name. He knows the very house in which we live, the name of each occupant. He has at times given directions to His servants to go to a certain street in a certain city, to such a house, to find one of His sheep.
Every soul is as fully known to Jesus as if he were the only one for whom the Saviour died. The distress of every one touches His heart. The cry for aid reaches His ear. He came to draw all men unto Himself. He bids them, “Follow me,” and His Spirit moves upon their hearts to draw them to come to Him. Many refuse to be drawn. Jesus knows who they are. He also knows who gladly hear His call, and are ready to come under His pastoral care. He says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” He cares for each one as if there were not another on the face of the earth (The Desire of Ages, 478-480). LHU 203
Satan leads many to believe that prayer to God is useless and but a form. He well knows how needful are meditation and prayer to keep Christ’s followers aroused to resist his cunning and deception. By his devices he would divert the mind from these important exercises, that the soul may not lean for help upon the Mighty One and obtain strength from Him to resist his attacks. Pr 271-272
"But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine." Isaiah 43:1King James Version (KJV)