Today's lesson is on the story of the Shepherd and the Thief, which Jesus tells in John 10. Reading first from the head, I notice the shepherd who enters from the gate. He calls the sheep by name. They know the sound of his voice and follow him. The thief, however, climbs into the sheep pen by some other way, but the sheep run away because they don't recognize his voice.
Reading a second time from the heart, I know Jesus is the Good Shepherd (read John 10:1-21 for the rest of the story), and I think this passage is reminding me to listen for His voice as I travel the pathways of my pilgrimage journey. His voice will be the strong voice that comes directly to me, not the strange sneaky voice that suddenly appears from parts unknown.
To some extent, both voices are inside me. I wrote yesterday about the voice of the Holy Spirit. (Which is also the voice of Jesus... one God... three parts... Dean's class... remember??) This voice is always available, calling us to do right if we will only listen. Unfortunately, the voice of the thief is frequently around too, leading us astray. This inner voice has a thief-like quality to us. We feel something isn't right when we are listening to it. This voice includes the thoughts that we banish quickly when we realize we're thinking them, or the actions we do where we suddenly scramble to hide them when Mom comes into our space. You get the idea.
We walk the pathway of our pilgrimage journey with both voices available to us. At each crossroads they are advising us... "go left" or "go right".
Which voice will we listen to?
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