He Leads Me In The Right Tracks.

Changing the Price Tags: Tony Campolo "Who Switched The Price Tags?" One year, my best friend and I devised what we thought was a brilliant and creative plan for mischief. We decided to break into the basement of the local five-and-dime store. We did not plan to rob the place (Sunday School boys would never do that sort of the thing); instead, we planned to do something that, as far as the owner of the store was concerned, would have been far worse. Our plan was to get into that five-and-dime store and change the price tags on things. We imagined what it would be like the next morning when people came into the store and discovered that radios were selling for a quarter and bobby pins were priced at five dollars each. With diabolical glee, we wondered what it would be like in that store when nobody could figure out what the prices of things really should be. Sometimes I think that Satan has played the same kind of trick on all of us. Sometimes I think that he has broken into our lives and changed the price tags on things. Too often, under the influences of his malicious ploy, we treat what deserves to be treated with loving care as though it were of little worth. On the other hand, we find ourselves tempted to make great sacrifices for that which, in the long run of life, has no lasting value and delivers very little gratification. Sometimes I think that one of the worst consequences of being fallen creatures is our failure to understand what really is important in life.

He leads me in the right tracks. Psalm 23:3

Did you know that sheep are never driven? They are an animal that has to be led. They are leaders but followers.

As we talk about the verse “He leads me” could we find a better guide than the Good Shepherd that is talked about in John 10:1-15 “I assure you, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! For a shepherd enters through the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t recognize his voice." Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them. "I assure you, I am the gate for the sheep," he said. "All others who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will leave the sheep because they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he is merely hired and has no real concern for the sheep. "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.’

I want us to see the qualities of this Good Shepherd and then ask you is He Your Shepherd?

1. He is all wise.

The song writer put it “My Lord knows the way through the wilderness all I have to is follow.” He knows where there are difficulties, exposures and every danger. He knows who the enemy is. He knows his hiding place. He knows his method of assault. He knows his means of attack. He knows the road we travel. The grades of the road. The pot holes we travel over. He knows the turns we must take and the detours that come our way. He knows the length of our journey. He knows the location of refreshing waters, the green pastures, the sheep folds where we can find rest and the safe passageways through the valleys of death to the glory land.

2. He is always alert.

1. He never gets tired. The Bible says “He never slumbers or sleeps. He is able to see the ay ahead. He knows all the dangers but also let us enjoy the beauty of the path we take. He is sensitive to every sheep’s’ need and can hear the faintest cry. Story of Robin from “Fresh Power” by Jim Cymbala.