Daily Jewel

by Pastor J.T. Carnell, McAlester, OK
Sept. 28, 2011

“Listen Up!”
“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.” – Proverbs 3:32 “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake….” – Psalm 23:1,3 “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” – John 10:14 “All we like sheep have gone astray...” – Isaiah 53:6 How good of a “listener” are you? Most of us are not very good at either listening or retaining what we hear. This is what often gets us into trouble—believing and then repeating false information because we do not do our homework or we did not pay attention in the first place. I did an experiment one time with a group of teens to illustrate this to them. I took one of the teens out of the room and said this phrase: "There were three brothers; Larry, Jerry, and Harry. They married three sisters, whose names were Mary, Sherry, and Terry." I then asked another teen to step out and he repeated what I said to that teen what I had said to him...and then that new one told another. By the time it got to the 10th one and then had that one repeat what she heard to me. Let's just say I heard an almost entirely different story than the one I had told! The Bible often compares us to sheep as the verses above remind us. It is actually a very good comparison except for one area—listening. The following illustration is proof of that. Charles Stanley tells the story of traveling with a church tour group to the Holy Land, and during one of their stops they observed a very unusual thing happen right before their eyes. Two Bedouin shepherds, along with their flocks, crossed paths on a road. The sheep mingled momentarily with sheep being led by the shepherds. The members of the tour group looked on with awe as the sheep—who looked alike on the road that day—seemed to have no problem mixing with sheep from the other flock. Until it was time for their shepherds to move in separate directions. When one of the shepherds decided to move his flock, he spoke softly to his sheep and without hesitation they followed his voice. The other shepherd did likewise, the sheep following their shepherd. With no confusion or uncertainty about whose voice to follow, the sheep instinctively followed their own shepherd. How did this happen? The sheep recognized the voice of their shepherd, and when he spoke, they followed—with total certainty that it was the right direction to take. Today there are voices from north, south, east, and west—urging us to buy their product, attend their function, embrace their beliefs, or support their cause. What should we do? Jesus said that he “calls his own sheep by name and leads them…and his sheep follow him because the sheep know his voice.” If dumb sheep understand this principle, why are we so slow to figure it out? So I ask again—how good of a listener are you? Are you listening now to what the Spirit is saying through these words and these messages? Are you listening on a daily basis to what and where He wants to take you? Here is a prayer to use for today:
“Gentle Shepherd, teach me how to listen more carefully to what you have to say to me. Help me to identify your voice above the other voices that want me to follow them. Remain close to me even in times when I am tempted to stray. Keep me from making the wrong decisions. Help me to focus on the right direction to take. Discipline me as necessary when I miss the mark. Forgive me for my tendency to go off in a new direction on my own. Teach me to study your Word so that it can be a light to my pathway. In the name of the Great Shepherd of the sheep I pray. Amen.”
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