The Shepherd's Wealth—You

Just how wealthy is God? Ask Him, and He'll say: "Behold my sheep. My people. My beloved. Bought with my blood."

Scripture Focus: John 10:16

"I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd."

In ancient times, shepherds weren't primarily raising their sheep to be slaughtered—they were raising them for their wool. Sheep had immense value. In the book of Job, when the author is trying to highlight Job's wealth, it says Job had three children and 7,000 sheep. That's immense wealth.

And Jesus says, "I don't only have sheep from this one fold—out of the fold of Judaism. I have another fold, and I'm going to bring them together into one flock."

He's talking about the Gentiles. Isaiah 49:6 prophesied this: "Is it too small a thing for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept? I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth."

So here is the Shepherd—He's going to bring sheep out of the fold of Judaism and out of the fold of this world into one flock. And they're going to hear the same voice and follow the same Shepherd. And He is going to bring them not only to Himself but to each other.

This is foreknowledge. Jesus doesn't say "I may have other sheep." He says "I do." He's known them before the foundation of the world. This Shepherd loves to save wandering sheep.

There's mystery here because He beckons "anyone" and "whosoever" in verse 9, and yet He's not wringing His hands wondering if anyone will come. He knows that He has sheep.

And amazingly, Ephesians says we the church are "the riches of the glory of His inheritance." Deuteronomy 32:9 says, "The LORD's portion is His people."

If you were to ask God the King of the universe, "Just how wealthy are you, God?" He would say, "Behold my sheep. My people. My beloved. Bought with my blood."

You know, typically if a shepherd were to die, the sheep would be scattered and they would die. But when our Shepherd died, the sheep were united and now they live. And we are His wealth.

Let that truth sink deep into your soul today. You are not an afterthought. You are not a burden. You are not a project God is trying to fix. You are His treasure. His portion. His inheritance. His wealth.

The Creator of the universe—who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who measures the waters in the hollow of His hand, who looks at the most powerful kings and kingdoms and says they're like grasshoppers—when you ask Him what His greatest treasure is, He points to His sheep.

He points to you.

Stay dialed in.