file: /pub/resources/text/Our.Daily.Bread: db940828.txt
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OUR DAILY BREAD                     Sunday, August 28, 1994
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READ:  John 10:1-16


                     "ON A FIRST-NAME BASIS"

              "He calls His own sheep by name and
                        leads them out."

                           John 10:3

Whenever I visit the Korean Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, I 
notice that the people seldom refer to one another by their first 
names.  They speak formally of each other and to each other -- Mr. 
Kim, Mr. Pyen, Mrs. Hugh.  One day I asked Mr. Pyen about this 
custom. He replied, "Only when we know people intimately  do we
use their first name."

Perhaps that's why I responded negatively when the head of a 
religious organization wrote me asking for my financial support.  
He began, "Dear Dennis," and signed his letter, "Bob."  It was an 
impersonal form letter dressed in the garb of familiarity.

Jesus calls us by name because He knows us so well.  That's the 
picture we get in John 10.  When an oriental shepherd was with the 
same flock for many years, he developed a close relationship with 
each animal.  He would give them descriptive names like "Brown-
leg" or "Black-ear."  And when he called them they responded to 
his voice.

So too, when Jesus asks us to follow and obey Him, His call comes 
with the promise of the protection, guidance, sustenance, and rest 
that we need at that time in our lives.  His call is suited to our 
needs because He knows us intimately.  He knows us on a first-name 
basis.

    -- Dennis J. DeHaan

    My Shepherd is the Lord who knows my needs,
    And I am blest;
    By quiet streams, in pastures green, He leads
    And makes me rest.
                       -- Psalter

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
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You're not just a number computers can trace;
Christ knows your need, your name, and your face.

THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:  1 Chronicles 20-23