Knowing the Shepherd’s Voice

Bulletins

Michael Hickox
02/25/24 - General

“But one who enters in [the sheep fold] by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out. Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (John 10:2-4)

These verses show us two ways in which Jesus, as our Shepherd, leads us. One is by going before us (His example). The other is by His voice (through His Word). As Jesus said, “the sheep listen to [the shepherd’s] voice.”

While sheep follow the voice of the true shepherd, the sheep “will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers” (John 10:5).

To be spiritually safe and secure, we must, like literal sheep, distinguish the voice of our true shepherd from that of false shepherds. In other words, we must discern between Christ’s doctrine and false doctrine.

Such discernment requires persistent study and approaching Scripture with a “good and honest heart” (Luke 8:15). It involves hungering and thirsting for righteousness (Matt. 5:6), with a sincere desire to know and follow the trustworthy Shepherd’s guidance.

May we have such zeal and thereby distinguish between worldly wisdom and the true “voice” of our Shepherd.