John 10:4 gives you a picture of Jesus that is both steady and deeply personal. The Shepherd brings out all His own, and then He goes before them. Not pushing from behind. Not shouting instructions from a distance. He leads from the front.

That detail matters because it means Jesus is not asking you to go somewhere He has not already gone. He goes before you into obedience, into suffering, into temptation, into death, and into resurrection life. Then the sheep follow Him for a simple reason. They know His voice.

In Scripture, “knowing” is not just information. It’s familiarity. It’s relationship formed through repeated attention over time. That’s why we’re moving verse by verse. Because the way you learn the Shepherd’s voice is not usually through one dramatic moment. It’s through daily nearness.

Question for today: What would it look like to measure discipleship less by how fast you move, and more by whether you are learning to recognize the Shepherd’s voice?