Related Verses:
Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.
John 10:25-28 NIV.
Faith was a little girl in our neighborhood. She was seven years old and went to Sunday school with her family every week. But Faith had a very big problem; she didn’t have any REAL faith in her heart.
Faith could say all the memory verses the teacher taught in her class each Sunday with only a little coaching. She knew all the Bible stories and could recite John 3:16 with no help at all. What Faith didn’t know was that Jesus could, and really did, answer prayers. So Faith didn’t trust him to listen to her when she was in trouble and needed help.
One beautiful day Faith had finished all of her school lessons early and Mother let her go out into the backyard to play in the garden. Faith enjoyed walking down all the paths that ran through the garden. She loved pulling up the weeds and watering the plants that grew vegetables and flowers. And while she wandered through the garden Faith snag all of the songs she learned in Sunday school and Church. This particular day Faith was singing ‘Jesus loves me’ and she began to wonder if Jesus really did love her. In fact she wondered if he even knew she existed. And if He knew her and loved her; why did He?
The farther she walked through the garden, the closer she got to the big, Dark Woods that ran behind her father’s property and butted right up to their garden paths. The closer she got to those woods, the more she just knew that Jesus didn’t care about her even a little bit.
Very soon Faith looked around her and found that it had grown very dark. She had walked from her family’s garden paths right out into the middle of the Dark Woods. Now she was lost. Faith began to get scared, so she sat sown on a rock and started to cry. It seemed to Faith that she had been sitting on that rock crying for a very long time. Suddenly she had a thought, which she spoke out loud:
‘No one knows where I am.’ She said. ‘Mother thinks that I am still playing in the garden, wandering among the paths and pulling weeds among the plants and flowers.’ This made her cry all the more.
Just then Jesus spoke to Faith as she sat there crying on the rock. He said; ‘Faith, you are not lost. I know exactly where you are. I always have! If you will trust me with your whole heart, I will lead you home.’
‘Whh, who are you?’ Faith asked, a little scared.
‘I am Jesus, who you were singing about a little while ago,’ He replied. ‘And who wrote all those stories you hear in Sunday school. I know the way home and will walk beside you all the way. Will you follow me?’
‘But, Jesus I can’t see you,’ she cried. ‘How will I know which way to go?’
Jesus answered softly, ‘Faith, you can hear my voice in your ear and you will feel my presence in your heart. And I will lead you right back to the garden paths that you were walking just a little while ago.’
‘OK, Jesus I will follow You.’ She answered.
‘Faith,’ Jesus said, ‘I want to lead you all the time, for the rest of your life. Not just today to get you safely home. I want you to follow me every day no matter where you go or how big you get. Because I want you to walk with me all the way to My home and live with Me forever, even when this world comes to an end and this life is over. Will you follow Me, Always? Will you listen to my voice each and every day?’
‘Yes, Jesus,’ She said, gladly. ‘I will follow You everywhere You want me to go. And I will trust You to always know what is best for me. I am ready to listen to Your voice.’
Faith did listen very closely to Jesus’ voice and He got her home just in time for dinner.
At the dinner table Mother and Father asked Faith what she had done with her afternoon it the garden. She told them of the weeds she pulled and the flowers she picked, but mostly she shared with them about getting lost in the Dark Woods and was sitting on the rock crying for the longest time. The Faith told Mother and father about meeting Jesus there in the Dark Woods. Jesus spoke to her and told her all about how He wanted Faith to trust Him and let Him lead her home; and not just home, but for the rest of her life. That’s when Jesus led her right back to the garden paths in their backyard. Mother and Father listened to all Faith had to say.
After dinner Father went to the piano in the family room and played a beautiful hymn all about walking in the garden with Jesus and talking with Him there in that garden. Afterward he explained to Faith how that when we pray, talking to Jesus and spending time listening to Him, it is just like spending time with Him in that beautiful garden in the song.
You know those of us who grew up in Church all started our Christian walk, our new life in Jesus, much like Faith. We know about God. We have heard all of the Bible stories and sang all of the songs. We might even have memorized a bunch of memory verses. But we don’t KNOW Jesus, until there comes a day when we are lost in the dark, all alone and crying. It in that day the Jesus introduces Himself to us. He may whisper in our heart with His still, small voice or put us in a position where we have to trust that He will show us the way out. Whatever way He chooses, it is ALWAYS exactly the best way for us to learn He loves us and has our best interests in mind.
I hope your story ends up like Faith’s did. Mine has. I was just like Faith, lost in my sin and darkness. But Jesus found me in that moment and led me back to His pathway of life, and I followed Him. I still follow Him everywhere He leads me, I always will! Will You?
Memory Verse:
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27 NIV.
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