“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” John 10:27-28 NASB
I was in the seventh grade – a period in life that only the most attractive and popular would dare want to repeat. I was neither. Like most of my peers, I was simply trying to survive junior high school. Nevertheless, there was an upside to this strange stage of life. As a part of my school supplies that year, my parents bought me one of those big spiral notebooks that had five dividers in it to separate the notes in the different classes I was taking. The best part was that it was college-ruled.
I’m not quite sure why that was so impressive to me. But at the time, it just felt more mature to be using college-ruled notebook paper bound in such a big spiral binder. On the inside of the front cover I wrote my name as carefully as I could. This was my spiral binder with college-ruled paper, and I was proud of it.
The lunchroom at our school had a big wall of shelving for the students to place their books and other personal items while they ate lunch. Being the trusting person that I was, I placed my brand new spiral bound treasure on a shelf with full confidence that it would be there when I returned.
That’s when tragedy struck. While I was eating lunch, someone came along and took my notebook. I hunted up and down the shelves thinking that perhaps someone had just moved it. But it was gone. My spiral bound notebook complete with college-ruled paper was gone. I was sad, frustrated, but determined to get it back.
The next day I arrived at school with a plan. I would quickly make my way through the lunch line, inhale my food, and then lay in wait. I figured that the same person who took my notebook would likely bring it to the lunchroom and put it on a shelf while they ate their lunch. I would simply wait for them to leave it there, and then I would reclaim what was mine.
Sure enough, within about ten minutes I saw a boy put my notebook on the shelf. When he was out of sight getting his lunch, I crept up to the shelf, grabbed my notebook, and made my way out of the lunch room. To my horror I found that he had scratched out my name and wrote his name in its place. He had also scribbled some notes on a few of the pages.
So I tore out the pages and threw them away, and I scratched out the thief’s name and wrote my name once again inside my spiral bound notebook with college-ruled paper. Right then and there I vowed to never let it out of my sight again. It was my notebook. No one, and I mean no one was going to take it from me again.
Centuries ago, the prophet Isaiah revealed that very same attitude which God has toward His people. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Yes, we are His. It’s likely that Jesus had this very verse in mind when He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them…and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
What a comforting word. We belong to Jesus. We are His. No one, and I mean no one is going to take us from Him. If a seventh grade boy could have that kind of protective spirit about a notebook, then surely the Lord of the ages is able and willing to watch over us and keep us throughout our lives.