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The Parable of

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

John 10:1-14

     “What’s his sign?” Rita had asked.

     “I knew you were going to ask that”, Christina had said.  “He’s a Scorpio.”

     “What?” Rita had exclaimed.  “You’re a Saggitarius!  You can’t possibly get along with a Scorpio.”

     “Look”, Christina had said, “I know you believe in that stuff, but it just doesn’t matter to me.  I like him.”

     “It’ll never last”, Rita had warned.

     But it did.  Christina and George were now celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary.  Of course, Rita was there to toast them.

     “I wish I had found a catch like George”, Rita commented.

     “Stop going by the stars and follow your heart”, Christina suggested.

     “It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks”, said Rita.

     “Well”, said Christina, “we have a family of seven, all with different astrological signs, and we all get along just fine.”

      “That’s easy with a husband like George”. said Rita.

     “The Scorpio?” Christina countered.  “Rita, how many fish did you toss back into the sea because they were the ‘wrong sign’?”

     “All the Pisces”, joked Rita.

     “There you have it”, Christina said.  “The One That Got Away.”

     “But seriously”, said Rita, “how do you know when your heart is telling you the truth?”

     “You heart always tells you the truth”, Christina advised.  “And the truth will set you free.”

THE GOOD SHEPHERD  (John 10:1-14)

     “He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.  But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.  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.  Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”  Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.  But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.  The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.  I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.”