Listen for His Voice Above Life’s Clamor

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from John 10:5, ” Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. “

Background

I grew up in a home that for a while had only one telephone. It was yellow and mounted to the wall in the kitchen. The cord on it was extra long so that we could wander several steps into the living room or the den in search of some semblance of privacy for our conversations. Before the yellow phone, we had a green one that had a rotary dial on it. Dialing someone’s phone number took about as long as it takes to spin the wheel on Wheel of Fortune seven times. And heaven help you if you had a bunch of nines or zeroes to dial, or if you messed up and had to start over. As primitive as that sounds, though, it wasn’t too many years before that that small towns had only one phone line that everyone had to share. So if you were fortunate enough to have a phone in your home, you still had to wait your turn at times. And going back just a few years more, towns would have only one phone for all to use. You’d have to go down to the general store or the like to be able to connect with someone from the outside world. In days gone by, it was easy to know when a stranger was trying to make contact. You knew who you knew. Today, well, George Jetson would feel much more at home than Andy Taylor would. The old and young and everyone in between has their own phone, and talking on them is the last thing that anyone uses them for. So who’s a stranger, and whose voice do you know?

Application

Technology has blurred those lines to where it can be unsafe, and professionals make dishonest livings at others’ expense, while countless others engage in flushing hours of their life away staring at and scrolling a tiny screen. That silent screen can even make it almost impossible to hear the voices that are deserving of your attention. The voice of Jesus is not amped up or bouncing off the screen of some game app. He’s probably not in your before and after posting or the quote you re-sent. So much has changed, but much has stayed the same. It’s important to be able to recognize the voices that get your attention, because paying attention comes with a price.

Charge

As we seek Him today, make yourself available to hear the voice of your Shepherd.