“My sheep hear my voice… I know them… no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).
Lord Jesus, thank you, thank you, and thank you some more. That’s a “thank you” for each of the three grace-realities in today’s passage.
“My sheep”… we are yours, Jesus (hallelujah). We’re no longer our own. We don’t belong to sin and death, our past failures or present messes. We aren’t what we, the devil, or anybody else says. We are yours, Jesus, and when we listen to your voice, we hear you call us washed and forgiven, your treasure and inheritance, your beloved bride and dearest friends.
“I know them” .. You know us, Jesus—in the most intimate and caring way… the beautiful and the broken stuff, who we are today and what we will become when you return. Again, Lord, make this undeniable, inescapably real to us… again and again and again. No human being, or 17 of our favorite ones, can “know” us the way you do.
“They are un-snatchable”… Your hand is the haven of peace and hope, and your grip is the grip of grace. You will never let go of us. Jesus—when the devil would snatch us, when like toddlers we try to pull away, when our doubts seem more real than our faith, when life seems harder than you are good… nothing can pry us from your heart and hand. Even if through illness we forget you, you carry us to the Day of our perfect healing and perfect everything. Hallelujah, Jesus, a gazillion times over. So Very Amen.