John 10:1 (Jesus said) “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

It was a constant battle – the conflict between the impulse to follow Jesus and the voices of those discouraging them from doing so. Fortunately, Jesus’ disciples followed him around wherever he went. Their engagement with Jesus was far deeper and of greater duration than the voices of those those calling them away from Jesus.

For many Christians today, engagement with the Lord is far more limited. If we tallied hours listening to podcasts and TV broadcasts and streaming TV shows and social media content, the number of hours spent listening to the voices of the world FAR EXCEEDS hours spent hearing the voice of God by reading scripture or praying or worshipping or studying the faith. BTW I’m talking about myself right now – and I’m a pastor! I think it’s one reason why the conflict and anxiety in the world around us has infiltrated many of our churches, to our detriment.

Lord Jesus, yours is the voice of wisdom and peace and life. Give to us a desire to spend of our limited time hearing from you. We pray this in your holy name. Amen.