Hearing His Voice #285

[The flock] follow [their shepherd] because they know his voice.

John 10:4

We recognize the voices of politicians, but we don’t always follow them. We know the voices of salespeople, and we certainly don’t always do what they tell us. We are intimately familiar with the voices of friends and family members, and though we value those voices more, we don’t always heed them implicitly. Why? Because all human voices are unreliable. Some are even intentionally deceptive. We have to be careful.

We don’t have to be careful with the voice of our Shepherd. With Him, hearing and following should be two sides of the same coin. When He speaks, His words are utterly reliable. And when we follow, we can be certain that we are headed in exactly the right direction. There is no gap between His words and our benefit. We never need fear that He might lead us in a way that we will regret. When we look back on His leading, even through hard trials, we will agree with Him completely. We will be glad He led us where He did.

The relationship between hearing and following also goes the other way. Just as the sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice, so too do we learn God’s voice by following Him. The more we take His words to heart, the more of them He will speak to us. Like a farmer who gives his best and greatest amounts of seed to the most fertile soil, Jesus speaks more abundantly and deeply to those who embrace what He says. He gives special attention to hearts that bear fruit and cultivates them to the fullest.

Treat the words God speaks like precious treasures that will bring enormous benefits to your life. Follow everything He says, and then expect to hear more. To those who have, more will be given. And our relationship with the Shepherd will grow fuller every day.

Jesus, give me more. I’m not reluctant to ask for what You already promised to give. I’ll follow every word I hear from You. Please speak to me often.