
What my Kindergarteners have taught me about following Jesus…
October 11, 2018
Did you know that sheep only look up and obey when they hear their shepherd’s voice? Any stranger can call to them and they would be ignored. But their shepherd, whose voice they know, can command them.
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I’ve seen this firsthand in the cafeteria at school. When we go to eat lunch, 3rd grade, kindergarten, and 1st grade are all in one room. As much as we try to keep them quiet, I’m sure you can imagine the noise level is a little louder than we’d like.
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Throughout lunch time, you may hear kids talking, teacher asking kids to be quiet and eat (because they only get 20 minutes), the sounds of forks against their trays, and the noises of the dish room.
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It’s always amazing to me how other teachers next to us, saying the exact same words as me, won’t raise the eyes of my students, but the minute I speak, my kids immediately look up.
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Why? Why does the sound of my voice grab their attention? Do I just intimidate them that much? Are they afraid of me?
No.
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It’s because they know my voice. They have heard my voice every day for 7 hours a day for the last nine weeks. They know what it sounds like, they know that I am their leader. They know the consequences of not obeying and ultimately they know that I am their protector. They probably know what I will say before I say it. (They know me so well that sometimes I hear them doing impressions of me while playing school in free center time. ) They know Mrs. Crawford more than any other teachers or students on campus.
I am their shepherd.
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That is the level of relationship and familiarity that Jesus wants to have with us. He wants us so connected to Him that we know His voice the best amongst many. He wants us to be able to decipher the voices of the world from His. He desires for us to look up only when we know it’s His voice commanding us. How do we get to have that close intimacy with Him? By listening for His voice and being closely connected with him for hours a day, every single day. By praying and spending time with Him. By conversing with Him and inviting Him into every moment of our day.
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My students have taught me so many valuable lessons over the years, but every year this lesson is my favorite to see play out time and again.
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“The gatekeeper 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.”
John 10:3-4 NIV
“But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.””
John 10:5 NIV
““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.”
John 10:14-16 NIV
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