Scripture tells that Christ Jesus calls us each by name to follow where he leads and that where he leads will be to a life of service to others. We are each special in his sight and unique in all creation. What he has for each of us to do today can be done by no other.

Perhaps the Lord is leading you or me to feed the hungry, perhaps to rescue the perishing, perhaps to comfort the sorrowing, perhaps to visit the prisoner, perhaps to free the oppressed, perhaps to heal the sick, perhaps to proclaim the good news, perhaps to a life of prayer, perhaps to welcome the stranger, perhaps to encourage the disheartened, perhaps to light the way for those who are stumbling in the dark, perhaps to care for the dying, perhaps to shepherd others, perhaps to witness to God’s love that we have experienced in our lives. Our calls to serve will change as the needs of the world around us change. Whatever God’s call may be, it will be geared to our own skills and abilities, our gifts. Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on our own meager resources alone. The Lord is always with us, leading us every step of the way.

Where he leads will not always be “beside still waters.” Sometimes it will be into the presence of his enemies and ours. Sometimes we may suffer for answering the call, for following him; sometimes a little, sometimes perhaps a lot. That’s not a pleasant prospect, not one to which we look forward, but one that the cross tells us will come our way at one time or another. Thankfully we can trust Jesus’ promise of abundant life when we follow where he leads.

If, however, we don’t hear his call because of the competing, clamoring voices in our lives, if we don’t recognize his voice because we have closed the ears of our hearts and tuned him out, what the Lord has prepared for each of us to do will go undone. There will be a hole in the fabric of God’s creation. To prevent that from happening on our watch, let’s join our hearts together in praying to our prayer-answering God in the words of our collect for today: “O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and follow where he leads.”