May 22, 2026, 5:00 PM
I pray you are enjoying a good week so far. I also pray it is a great Friday for you as we head into Memorial Day weekend.
Today (Friday) is the 22nd day of May. May 22nd is a day that is near and dear to my heart. My late mother, Reba Herriford, was born on May 22, 1939. She would have been 87 years old today!
While I miss her tremendously, I constantly remember the many ways in which she blessed my life.
One of the things that she fostered in me as a love for reading and for books.
Reading books and going to the library together is something I am looking forward to doing with my new granddaughter Addison. It's interesting that Mom's birthday falls on a Friday this year. I say this because Fridays have become the day that I get to spend with her!
Growing up, one of the stories in my favorite story books was an updated version of the old Brothers Grimm classic, "The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids." In the story, a mother goat leaves her seven "kids" home alone, warning them not to open the door for anyone, especially the wolf, whose voice is deep and paws are black. Why didn't anybody call CPS or KPS (Kid Protective Services)!
The wolf then tries to repeatedly trick the kids by disguising his voice to sound like their mother.
This old fairy tale reminds me of some Biblical truths. Jesus said that He was the "Good Shepherd." In John 10:3-4, Jesus says the following about Himself, the Good Shepherd, "The sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice."
On the other hand, Jesus says in John 10:5, "A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers."
The more time we spend with Jesus, we will get to know Him more. Then we will be able to properly distinguish between the Shepherd's voice and the deceptive voice of the wolf -- Satan.
In the Brothers Grimm story, the old wolf finally tricks the kids and eats them (all except one). When the mother goat finally returns home from the forest, she is terrified to find all but one of her children missing. After some searching, she finds the wolf, fast asleep under a tree. She then quietly (somehow) cuts open the wolf's belly without him waking. Her six missing children spring out miraculously unharmed! Before sewing the wolf back up, momma goat fills the wolf's belly with rocks.
Later on, when the wolf woke up, he became thirsty. When he goes to a river to drink, he falls in and drowns due to being heavy from the weight of the rocks!
Just like the mother goat, Jesus will one day return for his "kids." And when He does, Jesus will not throw the old deceiver (Satan) into a river, but into a "lake of fire." Revelation 20:10 says, "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
We have security when we know that we belong to Jesus and truly know His voice! Listen to Jesus in John 10:27-29: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand."
This coming Sunday we will continue in our sermon series on the Godly Wisdom found in the book of Proverbs. I will be preaching a message called, "Take That Job And Love It." FYI -- We will not be singing the old Johnny Paycheck Country classic, "Take This Job And Shove It."
Seriously, we all spend a lot of time on the job. It’s estimated that, over the course of a lifetime, most people spend about 40% of their time on the job. Some people are "workaholics" who seem "addicted” to their work/job. Others do not enjoy their work or at least some part of it. Many people feel trapped in their jobs and don't see any way out. So what is a proper, healthy, balanced outlook on work? What does the Bible have to say about work? Come and find out more this Sunday!
I hope and pray we'll see you at First Christian Church this coming Sunday (05.24.26)! Until then...
God Bless,
Greg Herriford
