Pr. 10:28: “The hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.”
This proverb reminds me of the scripture I was reading this morning in John 10. Verses 11-16 of John 10 are the words of Jesus:
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. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
We who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior, have heard the voice of our Shepherd and become righteous only through Him. Our hope certainly is gladness when our hope is in our Lord and Savior, for we know of the goodness of the Lord.
It is the expectation of the wicked, those who hope in anything other than God, that will perish. When we count on hirelings to care for us, give us hope, come through for us, guide us, protect us, lay down their lives for us, our expectation will surely perish.
Only God has laid down His life for us. Others will inevitably let us down. They are not our true Shepherd. Sometimes the hirelings in our lives leave us, allow us to be caught, cause us to be scattered. And though some hirelings do care, people can change, and we must not look to hirelings for our ultimate hope.
We must make sure we our listening for the voice of our good Shepherd and looking to Him for protection, hope, guidance, and care. He has already laid His life down for us, and will care for His flock like no other ever could.
Jesus said He knows His sheep, and He has already laid down His life to protect His own from the wolf. We must continue to make sure the voice we follow is His, and that we do not allow a hireling to cause us to be scattered from the flock. When our hope is rooted solely on the Lord, our expectation will never perish, for the Lord, alone, proves Himself to be faithful.
Don’t place your entire hope on anyone or anything besides your true and good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. True gladness awaits.
Listening for My Shepherd,
jamie
considering the word 