John 10:27-28 – My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.

These verses teach in distinctive terms that no true sheep of Christ will ever die. Your eternal security as a believer is a glorious fact. If you are truly a sheep of Jesus Christ you will hear His voice. You hear His voice day by day and obey His Word. The Lord Jesus knows His sheep. He knows each one by name. Not even one will escape His attention. No one will be lost through any oversight or carelessness on His part. Christ’s sheep follow Him, first by exercising saving faith in Him, then by walking with Him in obedience. Christ gives eternal life to His sheep. It is not life that is conditional on behavior. Eternal life is also a quality of life. It is the life of the Lord Jesus Himself. It is a life that is capable of enjoying the things of God down here, and a life that will be equally suitable to our heavenly home. Note these next words carefully. “They shall never perish.” If any sheep of Christ ever perished, then the Lord Jesus would have been guilty of failing to keep a promise, and this is not possible. Jesus Christ is God, and He cannot fail. You do not live the Christian life in order to become a Christian or in order to retain salvation. You live the Christian life because you are a Christian. You desire to live a holy life, not out of fear of losing your salvation, but out of gratitude to the One who died for you.

Challenge:

Are you following Jesus? When I ask you this question, I do not mean are you following Him in the general sense but rather in the practical sense. Are you following Jesus every moment of every day? Are you being sensitive to His instruction and direction on a consistent basis? You see, if you are then you can be assured that you are staying in perfect step with God and with His will for your life. So then, your challenge for this week is to follow Jesus wherever He is leading you. Be sensitive to the fact that Jesus may take you away from your normal routine and lead you into unfamiliar territory to accomplish His desires through you. If you are scheduled to meet with a friend for lunch and they have to cancel on you at the last minute, do not get frustrated, but rather look at it as an opportunity that God is giving you to be there for someone else or for some other purpose. Maybe you run into someone you have not seen in awhile. Do not look at this as an inconvenient distraction that may delay you in some way, but take it as a divine appointment that the Lord is giving to you. Following Jesus is always looking at situations from Gods point of view. May the Lord bless you.