2166 Know His Voice

Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Here’s what Jesus didn’t say – “Only a select few, super spiritual will hear my voice.” No, he said, “My sheep listen to my voice.” Jesus calls himself our Good Shepherd. What does that mean? In ancient Israel, a shepherd wasn’t just the owner of sheep – a shepherd was the one who lived with the sheep. His entire life was dedicated to his sheep. He slept near them at night. He protected them from danger. He led them to green pastures to eat and water to drink. The shepherd of this day knew each one of sheep individually. He knew which one was stubborn. He knew which one was prone to wander. He knew which one would lollygag and get lost. He also knew the dillydallyer that would inevitably get stuck in a ditch somewhere. A shepherd wasn’t like a cattle rancher driving a herd from behind. A shepherd led from the front and the sheep followed him. My friends, THAT’S OUR JESUS. He could have called himself anything. He could have called himself the General of the Army of followers. He could have called himself King. He could have given himself a crown of immeasurable value. But instead, he chose to be a shepherd to his sheep. To lovingly stay close. Shepherds in Jesus’ day would often bring their sheep into a communal sheep pen at night. Several flocks would be together in one place with one gatekeeper watching over them. The next morning multiple shepherds would come to collect their sheep. There weren’t separate sections. They weren’t color coded. The shepherd simply called his sheep. And his sheep got up and followed him. The others didn’t move. Can you imagine the noise? Hundreds of sheep. Multiple shepherds calling out. Yet somehow each sheep knew which voice belonged to the one they trusted. They knew because they had heard it thousands of times before. They learned their shepherd’s tone, their shepherd’s call, their shepherd’s character. Their shepherd wasn’t a stranger to them – the other voices were. A shepherd would continaully speak to his flock while leading them. He wanted his sheep to know his voice so if they wandered, they would return. A study was once done testing a flock of sheep to see how they recognized their own shepherd above anyone else trying to lead them. Thinking perhaps it was the scent of their clothes or their appearance, they dressed another man in the shepherd’s clothing and had him call to the flock of sheep. They would not listen. But their own shepherd, in completely different clothing could call out, and all the sheep would come running to his side. There was one thing they recognized – one thing they followed – HIS VOICE. Jesus doesn’t say his sheep will always make the right decisions. Sheep are generally rather ignorant and they continually get themselves into perdicaments where only their shepherd can rescue them. But what matters is his sheep know his voice. They know when he calls. They know when he directs. But I know the question we all have – DO I REALLY HEAR GOD’S VOICE? Am I good enough to know when it’s him guiding me? The sheep has no qualification here. The sheep just naturally know. The work is of the shepherd. The sheep simply listen. And isn’t that our problem – sometimes we’re simply not listening. We live in a world that is so busy and loud that we can’t hear our shepherd. We’re so quick to turn to anyone and anything that might give us immediate answers. We’ll turn on a podcast, we’ll call a friend, we’ll look for a sign, we’ll seek anything for a little guidance, but we won’t get still. We won’t get quiet. We won’t just sit with our shepherd and be close. So we miss it. Can we hear him – YES. We are sheep and the one thing we have the ability to do is hear our Shepherd. We don’t have the ability to figure things out on our own. We don’t have the ability to navigate our own way. We don’t have the ability to fix or change things. But we have the ability to listen and hear the voice that guides us. But we often don’t because we’re won’t … We won’t be still. We won’t be quiet. We won’t wait for his voice. Here’s what we often do – “God please speak to me. Tell me what to do.” While God is saying, “Would you please just spend time with me?” When an audiable voice becomes more important than a close relationship, we’ve missed the point. The sheep weren’t just wanting the voice of their shepherd to make them feel more confident. The sheep wanted the closeness of their shepherd because it was their way o