COME IN…GO OUT…FIND PASTURE…GO! Part II

John 10:1-10 (NLT)………….They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

GO OUT…the sheep were never expected to stay in the sheep pen for ever. Food would become scarce pretty quickly because this was only designed to provide safety and rest for a time. Tempers could get out of control because of the limited space to move about or work. Chaos could even be a threat to the peace and safety of the pen.
Luke 10:2, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.”
The reason the laborers are few is the sheep pen has become too comfortable for the sheep. Routine and complacency replaces vision and energy. Rejuvenation comes to fulfillment. There is a sense of completion, purpose and fulfillment OUTSIDE the sheep pen…in the harvest field (the world).

FIND PASTURE…The sheep don't leave the sheep pen on their own. The shepherd walks AHEAD of them and they FOLLOW by listening to his voice. As we go into the harvest (the world) we are fed and energized to continue doing the work God has called us…no, has MANDATED us to do. Together, we work the fields alongside the Owner of the field. Paul tells us “It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building. (1 Cor 3:7-9) We don’t have to wander aimlessly, confused, hopeless. People are waiting, ready to receive…but we MUST get out of the sheep pen.
“For everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? (Romans 10:13-15)
I find it interesting that immediately following COME IN, GO OUT and FIND PASTURE is the warning, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”

…The thief will ALWAYS try to steal the results of the COME IN. Steal the release, the freedom from our past bondages, misconceptions, control, pride, indentifying our worth with our works. Confusion of God’s yoke (teachings) to be hard, unattainable rather than easy, times of doing at times instead of times of just being.

…The thief will try to kill the joy of “going out.” He will put fear into our hearts. Fear can kill. Fear can be masked as inexperience, I-don’t-know-the-bible like so-and-so, arrogance or condescension “they will never receive what I have to say, or they are too bad a person.” The enemy is the wolf that attacks the flock, scatters and kills it through jealousy or entitlement.

...If we listen and follow the doubts the enemy attacks us with, the pastures…the privilege of the harvest we have been called to could be destroyed. While we each are accountable for our actions and decisions, I fear the day I am chose inaction, when I should have spoken a word and I didn’t. What excuse could I give that is greater than obedience? This is destruction at its core.

This is the promise after the warning:
“I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, AND HAVE IT TO THE FULL.”
The only way we are going to have life and have it to the full is to get out of the sheep pen EXPERIENCE
the energy and food of the pasture, EXPERIENCE the harvest.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore GO… Therefore GO… Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” MATTHEW 28

REFLECTION:
Our walk with God is a process, none of us ever "arrive" at a point where we can go it alone, we need each other. Where are you in this process and where do you want to be? How can we journey together out of the sheep pen and into the harvest?
A fellow sojourner who sometimes needs a kick to GO,
Kay