Sheep recognizes the Shepherd's voice

[minsdad21]

Day 14: Named and known

“Sheep know they belong to a shepherd. They are named, known, and counted every day� (p.100).
The shepherd teaches the sheep to follow them by recognizing the unique sound of the shepherd’s voice. This chapter reminded me of a clip that I watched on YouTube where a little test was performed on a small farm in Norway in 2013. People were challenged to call for the sheep in the same words as the shepherd uses, and then finally let him do it. Amazingly, the sheep never take notice of other peoples’ voices while glazing on the pasture. When it came to the real shepherd’s turn, as soon as the shepherd called, each sheep stops glazing immediately, put its head up, looks in the direction of the shepherd, and walks or runs toward the shepherd (Source - https://youtu.be/e45dVgWgV64).
We can trust Jesus’ voice and follow Him because He is our good Shepherd. He guides us and protects us. He provides for us and watches out over us. He calls us by name. And we need to follow His voice. There are a lot of voices in the world clamoring for our attention: the voice of style, the voice of popularity, the voice of prosperity, the voice of success. Some voices are healthier than others. Some are downright bad for us. But the one voice we need to hear most is the voice of Jesus. And as we get to know Jesus better, we get to know God better. The more we obey Jesus, the more we learn to recognize His voice. The opposite is also true: the more we disobey, the less likely we are to hear His voice, because we have hardened our hearts to God. Jesus wants our obedience, for our own good, for our own protection, and for God’s glory.

Thank You Jesus for making Yourself known to us and helping us recognize Your voice and follow You through Your Spirit.