Who You Rolling With?

In John 10, Jesus spoke to the Jews about The Shepherd and His Flock.  He said, "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 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. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." Are you listening to the voice of your shepherd?  Is Jesus your shepherd?  Those are questions that we all need to continually ask ourselves.  In times of struggle or confusion, they make all the difference.  Jesus tells us that His sheep follow Him b/c they hear His voice.  Are you obeying your shepherd's commands? If we are His sheep, He will not fail to instruct us. If we are Jesus' sheep, we will also flee from the voice of the stranger, b/c it is not the voice of our shepherd.  Jesus went on to say, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."  Again, there are going to be thieves and robbers that try to lead us astray, but if we are Jesus' sheep, we will not listen to them!  This could come in any form, but if Christ is in us, the Spirit will convict us.  We have entered through the gate, which is Christ, and we have been saved.  Our shepherd has come so that we could live abundant lives through Him, and He wants to lead us to that life, however, it is crucial that we LISTEN and OBEY.  Jesus goes on saying, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."  Our shepherd laid His life down for us on the cross!  Are we laying our life down for Him?  We deserve nothing less than death for our sins, but Jesus said, "Nope, Im paying for their sins!"  Why?  B/C Jesus listened to the commands of His father.  Like Jesus, do we desire to know the father?  If so, we are going to lay our lives down, as a sacrifice, for the sheep that are not yet in the pen.  Jesus doesn't need to use us to do this, but He wants to use us.  Walking through life as a living sacrifice, for Jesus, is living life to the fullest.  Is it going to be hard?  Um, Yea!  But the struggle that you encounter cannot even compare to the joy that a surrendered life will bring.  I pray that I can listen to the voice of my shepherd, and that I will sacrifice for the sake of the sheep that have not yet entered the pen.  I don't want to be led by a hired hand, b/c they will only lead me to destruction.  There is one flock and one shepherd, and that is who I want to roll with.  Who you rolling with?