The Shepherd's Voice

 

John 10:1-5 says this, “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

I love the fact that our Shepherd’s voice (Jesus’ voice) is recognized by His sheep (you and me, as Christ followers.)

Jesus... our Good Shepherd is so active as our Provider, our Protector, and our Friend.

He opens the gate
He calls His own sheep by name
He leads them out
He gathers those who are His own
He walks ahead of them

But something else stood out to me in these passages.

It’s found in verse 5. It says this in the NLT, “They won’t follow a stranger, they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

In the Kenneth Wuest translation, it says it this way, “… they do not know the voice of others.”

I love this.

The reason we “know His voice” is because we have familiarized ourselves with it.

We have read His Word.
We have spent time in prayer.

We have made good use of listening. We stay within earshot, always seeking to perceive His assignment.

It’s a great privilege to be spoken to by the Good Shepherd, and it’s also a tremendous responsibility to actively engage upon the nourishment and security of our own spiritual souls. We must be attentive to what He’s saying and stay attentive to His every word.

My commentary says this, “Nothing is easier than to stop our ears.”

So becomes the things we must focus on:

We must know our need of His voice.
We must familiarize ourselves with His voice.
We must stay aware, awake, and alive.

Everything hangs on our willingness to listen.

AND we must un-familiarize ourselves with the voice of others. De-program it from our consciousness.

Who am I habitually listening to?

Let’s lean in and beg God to make us single-focused when it comes to our attention, our awareness, and our discernment.

May HIS voice forever be the only one we hear!