“[The Shepherd] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” John 10:3
There 
was a toy sold a few years ago that was really quite remarkable. Fisher-Price introduced a product called the Elmo Knows Your Name Cell Phone®. It’s really an ingenious toy. Elmo’s phone can carry on a conversation with you. And while it does, it mentions you by name. What a remarkable bit of magic. The cell phone makes you think that Elmo is your own personal friend, but that’s not quite what happens. Elmo doesn’t really know your name. Someone took the time to program Elmo so it appears that he knows you by name.
When people stand in line to get the autograph of a famous person, they will often ask him or her to write something like: “To Billy from Aaron Rodgers.” That makes the photo very authentic and quite personal. With a signed photo like that, you can brag to all your friends that Aaron Rodgers knows you by name. But Aaron doesn’t really know you. You told him the name you wanted signed with his autograph.
It makes us feel important if others know our name. It would be sad if your mom or dad forgot your name. Jesus said in John 10: “[The Shepherd] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” Does that mean Jesus knows the names of everyone, even us? Jesus knows our first, middle, and last names. He knows all about us! The Good Shepherd knows when we were born, how much we weigh, what our favorite color is, and where we live. Jesus knows everything about us, right down to the last detail. The Bible tells us that Jesus even knows exactly how many hairs we have on our heads.
Why does Jesus know so much about us? Is he nosey? Remember he’s the Good Shepherd who watches out for his sheep. He knows us because he loves us and wants what is best for us. To do so he must know us personally. Already when God created the world he knew our names. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, he knew our names. When he hung on the cross at Calvary, he still was thinking about each of us. And today the Bible says that Jesus is in heaven doing something special for us. John 14:2,3 says: “I am going [to heaven] to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” What a beautiful thought to remember? What a joy it is realizing that the Good Shepherd knows us by name!
Somebody knows when your heart aches and everything seems to go wrong.
Somebody knows when the shadows need chasing away with a song.
Somebody knows when you’re lonely, tired, discouraged and blue;
Somebody wants you to know Him, and know that He dearly loves you.
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