Every man is following something. When young it is one thing; in middle age another; in old age still another. Men are always pursuing something, some idea, some knowledge, some possession, some glory, some influence. There are so many things in the world which appeal to and claim the human heart and excite its ambitions.
Now how good it is to follow this Shepherd without looking back to see if goodness and mercy are following or whether other sheep follow or not! To delight alone in Him is the secret of rest, calm, independence, liberty and balance from day to day. When He has taken His place of preeminence in the life, other pursuits--such as are praiseworthy--fall into their proper places. In storm or in sunshine the soul follows on, one day surrounded by others, the next called into a path where no one follows; on other days, called to follow again in company, or to be led out of the field to rest.
What an unspeakable joy to know such a Shepherd, One who makes no mistakes, One who knows His sheep by name; each by his own history, by his peculiar character and by his weakness, by his tendencies and temptations! He understands our make-up, physical, moral and intellectual, every fibre and nerve of our being, nothing is hidden from His eye. Our instincts tell us He must be such an One. Our deepest aspirations reveal the waste places in our inner lives that cry out for such an One. The confessions of the true people of God in all dispensations declare that He is such an One.
He knows our name; that is, our character. He is really the Only One who does actually know it. Only so far as we know Him do we know ourselves aright. "Man know thyself" is a very ancient piece of advice. But the long history of humanity has demonstrated that refusing to come to the true light which lightens every man, that light which is more than natural sagacity and intellectual perception, because it alone can penetrate to those hidden depths of our mysterious personalities that lie beneath the normal consciousness of ourselves, no one can attain to self knowledge. It has been said of a great statesman, that if ever a man knew his own mind he did. He allowed nothing to deflect him from what he saw to be his duty. But it was also asked of him, "Did he ever know his own heart?" For somehow the heart can trick the mind into seeing what it wishes the mind to see, or to be blind to that it wishes it to be blind to. What then is to be done? There is nothing left but to hand this difficult heart, with its currents and cross currents and under currents, over to Him who searches the heart and the reins; in other words, to become a sheep of the Good Shepherd.
The last interview recorded in the fourth Gospel between the Good Shepherd and His sheep shows that He has His sovereign will about each one of His sheep individually. John has not to fare as Peter, nor Peter as John. However closely their paths may have lain together for a time, each one must be taught to lean in direct dependence on the Shepherd. Never allow a friend, even the dearest, to become inseparable from thy life. Let thy friendships be only and all in the Lord. Say so to thy friend, thy constant companion in the journey, whom thou will be called later to leave, or who will leave thee alone. But meanwhile draw near to each other, while each follows the Shepherd without depending one upon another. The less people depend upon Christian fellowship the more will they benefit by it; and in the measure as each one follows the Heavenly gleam and sets His love on the One who is the Fount of all true light, looking not to his fellow-learners, to the right hand or to the left, he will become more closely united to every member of the guided and shepherded flock.