He Calls Us By Name

John 10:3-4 states, "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

This text really blessed me today. Aside from the junk we get ourselves into, the Lord is there leading us and guiding us. What struck me most was this:

"...he calls his own sheep by name...." Think on that phrase for a moment. Notice the closeness and intimacy...although God has a universe to run, He has time for each of us individually. If He was here in body, I'm sure He'd look me in the eye, shake my hand like friends do, hug me, and say something like, "So what's up, Bill? How's it going? Tell me about your day...." We'd sit on the couch and talk....

And actually, if you think about it, He does do this kind of stuff. Now when we meet with Him it's not exactly a "face to face" meeting (although that's coming), but He does desire the closeness that we can see in this text.