Daily Manna · Day 47 · February 16
Unpluckable
“My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.”
Maybe there is something from this past year that you would never want read aloud. Ever since it happened, it has been quietly telling you that you are not really one of His. It never says so in a crowd. It waits until you are alone.
So how do you know you belong to Him?
Jesus gives the marks two verses earlier: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." Notice that none of the three is a feeling.
You might answer that this is exactly the problem, because you did something a follower would never do.
So did Peter. He denied Jesus three times, out loud, in a courtyard, standing by a fire, with people listening.
You may wonder how that is supposed to comfort you.
It comforts you because it is accurate. Look at where Jesus puts the safety: "My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand." The grip He is talking about belongs to the Father. Your own grip is never even mentioned.
Then you might think that nothing you do matters.
That is not what He said. The sheep in this sentence are hearing and following right now, and they keep on doing it. The safety is huge, and it is also exact, because it is spoken over sheep that are still listening for their Shepherd's voice.
So here is the warning, said plainly. The danger was never that your grip would slip, because the Father's hand settles that. The danger is a person who stops listening for the voice altogether and then quotes this verse for comfort. It is worth asking yourself honestly whether you still turn your head when Jesus speaks. If you do, you are held in a hand that nobody can open.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 47 is Under My Roof (Matthew 8:8).