Called By Name

“The watchman opens the gate for him, and the

sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own

sheep by name and leads them out.”

John 10:3 (NIV)

It’s always been easy for me to remember faces. Even faces that I haven’t seen for years. A student could move from the school where I worked her kindergarten year and not move back until high school and I would recognize her immediately.

But remembering names is completely different. For some reason I struggle terribly when it comes to meeting people and keeping their names stored in my brain.

 I’ve tried all the helpful tips that I’ve been given, from saying the name the minute I am introduced to mentally rhyming it with something familiar or funny so it stays in my memory but nothing has worked.

That inability to recall names caused me to make an embarrassing mistake at my new job. I was hired at a savings association and it was imperative that we always remembered names when assisting customers with their accounts.

We dealt with hundreds of thousands of dollars on a daily basis and were taught that acknowledging a person’s name helped the customer to see that we cared about their decisions and about them.

One particular elderly man – a frequent customer – came in to make a huge deposit of several thousand dollars . . . and I went blank. I recognized his face instantly but, as hard as I tried, could not remember his name. “Think quick, think quick,” I told myself and then it came to me.

As I filled out the deposit slip, I smiled at him and said “I am so sorry, but I cannot remember how to spell your last name.” He smiled back and said “Oh, that’s okay. S-m-i-t-h.” Mercy.

In today’s Scripture, we read about a watchman who was hired to guard a sheep pen. In those days a watchman usually had several different flocks in one pen at night. The walls of the pen were made of stones with a gate that was the entrance.

When a shepherd came to the pen to collect his sheep, the watchman opened the gate. As the shepherd called his sheep, they recognized his voice and followed him out of the pen. He knew their names and they knew the voice of the shepherd.

So let me ask you: what “pen” do you find yourself stuck in? Are you trapped by temptations or loneliness?  Are you filled with depression to the point that you wonder if anyone truly sees you or cares? Do you wonder if God even knows you exist?

  

Here is the good news! We worship a Father who not only knows our names, but calls us BY name as His children. We are not a number on a list or a face in a crowd to the Lord. We are priceless and precious to Him.

We are loved by the Creator who knows the name and voice of each one of His creations.

The gate is open. Are you listening for the voice of the Shepherd? He is calling you by name today.  

Thank you, Father, for calling me by name and keeping my focus on you. Thank you for being my Shepherd and keeping me in your care. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• Have you ever met an acquaintance and could not remember his or her name? How did you feel?
• Have you ever thought that your problems are not important to God and that He doesn’t hear your call for help or even know your name?

Application

• Journal today’s Power Verses and replace “him” or “you” with your name.
• How does it make you feel when you realize that God knows you personally by name as His child?

Power Verses

• John 10:3 (NIV) “The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
• Isaiah 43:1 (NIV) “But now, this is what the Lord says – he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
• Isaiah 49:16 (NIV) “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”
• Jeremiah 1:4 (NIV) “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before your were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
• Psalm 23:1 (NIV) “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.”