The Shepherds Voice

He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

 

John 8:47

One of the great mysteries of the universe to our logical mind is how God can communicate with six billion people on the earth at the same time. It is one of those mysteries we must let go of because our "hard drive" would crash if we had to explain and understand this before we believed and trusted in Him.

 

It is as though God places a computer chip in each human being, and when we place our faith and trust in Him, it becomes activated and we begin to communicate with Him. Jesus says that if we are children of God, then we can hear God's voice. He further explains this relationship in the following parable:

I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice (John 10:1-5).

The Shepherd is always representative of Jesus and sheep are representative of God's children. This passage tells us that the Shepherd communicates with His children—we are called by name and we can listen to our Shepherd's voice.

 

There is another comforting aspect to this relationship, and that is that the Shepherd goes before the sheep to prepare the way—Jesus has already gone before us today to prepare our way.

Knowing the Shepherd and His voice allows us to have the assurance that we will not be fooled by another shepherd's voice—the sheep know His voice. It is only when we are dull of hearing that we mistakenly hear another's voice and follow it.

 

Sin can create a poor frequency in our communication with the Shepherd. And it is important to make sure our frequency is free of static (sin) so that the Shepherd can lead us and go before us in all things. Because if sin is present and active in our lives, we are breaking our fellowship with our Shepherd which in turn will keep us from being fully tuned to all that He is speaking and leading us in. 

Finally, distractions can also keep us from hearing our Shepherd's voice. When the sheep get entangled in the fence or wander off, they get too far away to hear the Shepherd's voice. We must stay in close proximity to the Shepherd to hear His voice—listen and follow—He wants to lead you.