JOHN 10:27

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

TO PONDER

One of the games my family like to play when watching animated movies and cartoons is to try and guess the actors who voice the characters. There is usually a lot of excitement when we recognise a voice of someone we have seen or heard in another movie and I have often wondered at how quickly we can sometimes recognise voices of people we have never met but only seen once or twice before on other movies.

There is no doubt that voices are unique, sometimes voice matching technology has even helped to identify criminals but there are plenty of people who can do pretty good imitations of others voices. In those cases how do you tell a fake from the real thing? Well you just have to be really familiar with the original. If you want to be able to distinguish Jesus' voice from all the other voices vying for your attention then you need to spend time listening to him, spend time reading your Bible, spend time in prayer, take time with other Christians to share what you are both hearing from God. The more intimately familiar we are with the voice of Jesus, the easier it will be to know his voice and to follow where he calls.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus the Good Shepherd, help me to know your voice in such a way that I might always hear when you call. Help me to trust your voice so completely that I never hesitate to answer when you call to me. Amen