John 10:11-12 says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.” Jesus continued his sheep/shepherd metaphor by contrasting the shepherd with a hireling. Perhaps the most notable difference is the outcome: the hireling flees at the sight of an approaching wolf — he doesn’t get combat pay! — while the shepherd gives everything he has to protect the sheep. The primary reason is because the hireling “doesn’t own the sheep.” He has no interest in them, only money for himself. What has our Good Shepherd given to us that we call ‘ours’? Let’s be like him as we practice good stewardship over all his gifts to us.