Parson to Person - God knows us by name

We live in a world that seems to be run by numbers.

I lived in Chicago for several years, and when I went grocery shopping I always had to be ready with my numbers. Numbers of my check, check-cashing card, address and phone number. ?Is this information current and correct?? I would be asked.

?May I see your driver?s license?? was the next question. My driver?s license would be scanned, and more numbers would be written down on my check. Finally, I would be approved. The numbers were all there. I could eat for another week.

April 15 approaches. Talk about numbers. Pages and pages of numbers. It would be nice to think that someone at the Internal Revenue Service knew you, someone who handled your tax return personally each year. No such luck. They just input your numbers into the computer, and the computer decides on the basis of these numbers, and the last year?s numbers, whether or not we need to be audited.

So the IRS knows us by our Social Security number. The State of Iowa knows us by our driver?s license number. Our insurance company knows us by our policy number. Many students at large universities feel that their teachers and the administration know them only by their student number.

But we are much more than a number. There is the story of a census taker who inquired of a woman, ?Do you have any children??

She replied, ?Yes, there?s Margaret and Marcia and??

The census taker interrupted her, ?I?m not interested in the names of your children, just the numbers.?

The woman responded, ?My children don?t have numbers, they have names.?

You know, you are more than just a number to God. In John 10:11,14-15, we hear the voice of Jesus, ?I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep?I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.?

Jesus told the story of the shepherd who counted his flock of 100 sheep, only to find that one sheep was missing. The shepherd left the other 99 sheep and went out to find the lost one. And when he found that sheep he picked him up, brought him home, and rejoiced with his neighbors.

In the same way, the good shepherd, Jesus, will not let us go. He loves us and is continually calling us back into a relationship with the rest of the flock.

Thank God that we are more than just a number to God. We have a wonderful shepherd who loves us enough to die for us, forgiving us all our sins. The good shepherd has laid down his life for us. The good shepherd has claimed victory over death for us. For each of us.

He knows us by name.