FOLLOW HIS VOICE ONLY
John 10:5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
A stranger will try to lead you away from Jesus and from the flock that He has assigned you to. We must be aware that the devil, the stranger, is always trying to get us to follow him. It seems to me that we are either following the Good Shepherd or the stranger. Not only are we not to follow him, the stranger, but we are told to flee or run from him. This tells me that we are not to play around with this, i.e., not even listen a little bit to the stranger, or hang out around where the stranger is leading and guiding the world.
The Good Shepherd and the stranger have two very different agendas. I think the Lord sees this false shepherd, this stranger, as an enemy. The Bible clearly says, “To be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God.” The stranger is the shepherd to the world and this world system. Our Good Shepherd, the Lord, is trying to protect His sheep from wolves and the stranger who would try to draw them away from His very able protection. Run from the stranger! Because you know the voice of the Good Shepherd, you can also know when the voice of a stranger talks or tries to lead and guide you, that this is not the voice of the Good Shepherd, this is not the leading of the Lord. In other words, “I don’t know that voice, and I am not following that voice because I don’t know who that is.”
I often tell people that Pastor Rhonda is “Susie Safety,” and no matter the situation, she has already figured out the safest way to traverse through it. So, even though I know you mean well, if my wife is around and is yelling one thing and you are yelling another, I am going with her.” Why? Because she has proven to me that she knows what she is talking about. And, because I know her voice, I don’t have to ask, “Who is this?” When she calls to me from the other side of a room, I know it is her. I know her voice, and I can follow it in the most difficult situation. How much greater it is to know the Lord’s voice, so the voice of a stranger, you will not follow.