A sheep without a shepherd is much like a child without their parent. Sheep have needs that only their shepherd knows. Those needs must be met. Similarly, we as children had needs that needed to be met. We needed someone to tend to our every need when we were born, and for much of our lives until adulthood. Without a mom or dad to tend to us, we would be like a sheep without a shepherd, lost and with our most basic needs unmet.

A shepherd is similar to a parent in this way. They tend to their flock, and care for their every need. When they need rest, they provide for it. If they need water, they provide it. Safety and protection are provided for the sheep as well. These are all essentials for every shepherd, and every parent. But a good shepherd, and a good parent does more than just provide for their flock. But the shepherd knows their flock.

“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:14-15).

The Lord knows His sheep. He doesn’t just tend to His sheep, but He knows them. This is profound and can help us understand the relationship that we have with our Heavenly Father.

He Knows

Knowing is more complicated than you think. For us, getting to know someone takes a conversation, an interaction, or a simple greeting. We can introduce ourselves to someone, and instantly start to get to know them. We can ask them questions about themselves and learn how they talk and respond. We start to pick up on things immediately and overtime, a relationship begins to build. Sometimes this process happens quick, and sometimes it happens slow. But the Lord isn’t like that. He isn’t in a state of “getting to know you”, even if you just started talking to Him. He knows you now.

““Before I formed you in the womb I knew you-” (Jeremiah 1:5)

The verse above is spoken directly to Jeremiah, but the Lord is no respecter of persons, so if He knew Jeremiah from the womb, He knew you and I as well. This isn’t just a technicality, or some odd Christian saying. But instead, the Lord has known us in a way of which we do not understand.

For us to know, is to observe and understand a person better than we did before. For the Lord, He understands us and gets us through and through. Every part of ourselves and our lives is known by the Lord, and He cares for every part. Just as a shepherd knows a sheep’s habits, and their diet, along with other things. The Lord knows our routines, our daily needs, and our wants. He tends to us in a way that we cannot, because He knows us better than we even know ourselves.

The Lord knew us before we were created and knows our every need from the day we were born to the day we will pass away.

He Cares

For an all-powerful God to know, is to care. He could spend His days doing nothing and living in paradise. Instead, He knows and plays an active role in our lives. Like a shepherd cares for his flock, the Lord tends to and cares for His people. If there is a need, the Lord will make sure it’s met, and if there is a desire, the Lord will desire to meet it. Just as a father who knows his children and meets the needs accordingly, the Lord knows His sheep and meets their needs.

Also like a father, the Lord doesn’t just have a professional relationship with His children, but a deep and personal relationship with them. In fact, scripture supports that it is for relationship, that Jesus came.

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

A God who knows His sheep, tends to them. A God that knows His sheep lives in relationship with them. He doesn’t just provide. But He cares, and He pursues.

The good shepherd knows His sheep. Only knowing His sheep means that He cares for them and pursues them. His desire isn’t just to have sheep, but it is to have relationship with those sheep. It is from this place of care and pursuit that we are faced with a wonderful luxury. As believers, we are blessed with far more than what the rest of the world has to offer. While some may be empty and alone, we have the greatest pleasure of all. That is, to be known by the Father, and to have the chance to walk in relationship with God.

Because the Lord first loved us, and knew us, we now get to know Him, and walk in relationship with the one who knows us best. But we will save that for next week’s discussion!