Text- Mark 6:34 – "When Jesus came out and saw many people, He was moved with compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.”
It’s our third day on this topic, “Marks of a true sheep”. In the course of this series, we have learnt that a true sheep of Christ is a believer who willingly acknowledges those things he knows about God in a deep rational sense, and is hungry for more of Him, genuinely seeking Him with all of his heart.
Today, we will consider yet another mark of a true sheep – Being teachable. When we think about what happened in Mark 6, where out text is taken from, we realize that Jesus began to teach the people because He saw them as sheep (though they were without a shepherd)!
Every true sheep of Christ is teachable. A sheep realizes that the act of believing means accepting Jesus as Lord, not just as savior; that is, as sheep, we no longer have the final authority in our lives. So we must allow God to teach us His ways.
This was David’s prayer in Psalm 86:11 – “Teach me your way, O LORD; I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to fear your name.”
You may say, “But this is what we talked about yesterday”… No, it isn’t. While Moses prayed, “Show me your way”, David prayed, “Teach me your way”. After you have been shown, you must be willing to be taught.
Ecclesiastes 10:15 says, "The labor of the foolish wearies every one of them, because he knows not how to go to the city.”. The issue with the fool here is not that he does not know the way; the problem is that he does now know how! He has been shown the way, but he still needs to be taught the way.
Proverbs 1:5 says, “Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance”. Remember that Paul said he constantly prayed for the Ephesian Church that God would make them wise and discerning in knowing Him personally (Ephesians 1:17).
We now see from proverbs that a true sheep will not only be wise and discerning in the knowledge of God, a true sheep will add to his learning and get guidance. These two requires a heart that is teachable.
If you have ever seen a shepherd leading a herd of sheep, you will discover that they walk in the path of the shepherd. This means a true sheep of Christ will walk in the path of Christ. We will talk about this in more detail tomorrow. However let me point out something to us quickly in Isaiah 2:3
Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.
A sheep cannot walk in the path of Christ except he is taught His ways! If you are a true sheep, you will regularly make yourself available on the mountain of the Lord (your personal closet), and in the temple of the God of Jacob (Church, Bible Study, Fellowships etc.) to be taught the ways of God.
When you spend time with God personally, striding through the pages of scripture, or when you gather with other believers in Church, are you open to learning? Are you eager to add learning and get guidance? Are you teachable? Are you a true sheep?
PRAYERS
1. Teach me your way, O LORD; I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to fear your name.
2. Lord, please give me a heart that is teachable. Break every form of arrogance or stubbornness that may still be left in me.