A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (February 8, 2018)
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. (John 10:4-5)
We recently had a prayer workshop at our church with several speakers from our congregation. The lead speaker shared a story about some of his experiences while growing up on a farm. I will never forget one of those stories because it is such a great illustration of how the voice of our Shepherd should be easily recognized by His sheep.
The family of our speaker lived on a farm out in the country and they owned a bunch of hogs. There were two neighboring family farms that also owned a lot of hogs. When our speaker was very young he witnessed something that really puzzled and concerned him. The large corn field in back of their farm was harvested and the corn was taken to market. After that, his father and the two neighbors let all their hogs loose into the field to eat the corn that was left scattered on the ground.
Our speaker said as a little boy he could not understand how in the world his father and the neighbors were ever going to separate all those hogs and get them back to their rightful owner.
Well, after the hogs had finished their gleaning the field of scattered corn his father went out and called his hogs. His hogs came right to him because they knew his voice and his hogs were the only ones that responded to his voice. That lesson of the hogs remained with this young boy to this day and is a good lesson for all of us. Even hogs know their master’s voice. How much more should we know our master’s voice.
Let’s look at our John 10 example as depicted in The Message Bible:
“Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.” (John 10:1-5)
There are a lot of voices out there in the world today that are strangers. They are rustlers. That is why it is so incumbent on us to be able to hear the voice of the Lord and recognize when He is talking to us. God has not quit talking, but we have to tune into the right frequency.
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)
