Hear the Master's Voice

March 3, 2024

Sunday

 I grew up on a farm. One thing I knew that had to be done was maintenance on the equipment. I knew that the failure to grease, change the oil and perform any other scheduled maintenance would cost much more later that it did now.

Also when you spent hours working with equipment, you learned how it sounded. I knew something was wrong when the equipment didn't make the normal sound. It was better to check out what was going on and fix it right away than to allow it to go on, just hoping it would go away. Again, fixing a problem when it was small took less time and costs much less. Of course, at my age, there weren't headphones over my ears to drown out the sound of the equipment. I am sure that, if there were, there would have been more catastrophic breakdowns. 

While I am not one who thinks that God is chatty, I do believe that He speaks to us. I can hear from Him daily through His word. I can hear Him daily through His Spirit. If I don't "listen" a problem will arise soon. If I keep myself from hearing the problem by ignoring or by putting my attention elsewhere, the problem gets much worse.

Just like failing to listen to farm equipment, I should know there is a problem when I haven't listened to my Master's voice. He is speaking, even now. When I listen, I follow Him When I drown out His voice and don't listen, I walk astray. Then, I am no longer following Him. I get myself in trouble. The trouble gets worse the longer I am in it. It does not go away. The only answer is to listen for Jesus' voice. Only then, can I get back on the path.

The question each morning must be: Will I listen to hear my Master's voice today? Nothing can get in the way of doing that or we are assured to stray from the path. We are assured of getting in trouble.

While there are many ways to do that without reading this blog, there must be a plan so that we stay on that path. Reading the Bible randomly often results in reading the Bible infrequently. Frequency matters. It must be daily that we listen for His voice. Failing to do so will cost a great deal more later.

   “My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” (John 10:27, NASB 2020)