The Voice

By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

Y’all know I’m no Bible scholar.  After having finished the entire Bible between March and December of 2020, I know more than I’ve ever known.  But I’m still no scholar. I have much to learn. But after a lot of years following Christ, I know to listen to the voice of The Good Shepherd by staying in God’s Word.

What I’ve learned, I’ve learned from people far smarter than I. Tara-Leigh Cobble,  the host for The Bible Recap says she isn’t a scholar, either. But after having read through the Bible every year for at least the past thirteen or so years, she’s very familiar with the character of God and most of the people who show up within the pages of God’s Word.

NO MOUNTAIN TOP MOMENT

I’m sure I’m not the only professed Jesus-follower who can’t tell you a day when I asked Him to dwell within my heart. I don’t remember not having Him in my heart. He was front and center in our home when I was a child. Following Jesus is what we did as a family. We were in church every time the doors opened, and I attended and even sang at more revivals than I can remember between the ages of about five to about eight or nine. At those, there were a whole lotta altar calls where I went down front. I can’t remember a single one of those where I asked Jesus to come into my heart. As a child, I suppose I thought He’d always been there.

My sister remembers vividly where she was when she invited Christ into her heart. She was about twelve years old and was with the youth in the chapel of Lafayette Street Methodist Church in Dothan, Alabama. Our cousin, George Gilbert, was the preacher in the chapel that morning. When he gave the altar call, Sis knew she’d heard the voice of The Good Shepherd.  She wanted to go down front, but she was so shy, she wanted someone to go with her. About that time, another cousin, Carolyn Hawkins, jumped up and Sis followed her down.

I don’t have a moment like that. I do remember when I rededicated my life to Christ at Blue Lake Methodist Conference Center in Andalusia, Alabama when I was about seventeen. Our church, First United Methodist in Andalusia, had a youth weekend at the new facilities built about that time. Many of my dearest friends were there that weekend.

I remember it well because one of my friends told me there was no way one could pray to become a Christian because God doesn’t hear the prayers of people who aren’t Christians. I remember how upset I was. I knew that wasn’t true. I may not have known much at the time, but I knew that much. No way would the God I love and worship not hear the prayer of a young girl when she asks Him to renew His spirit within her. No way would He not hear the prayers of anyone when they call upon His name, even if they weren’t a Christian at the time.

HE CALLS US BY NAME

I knew The Shepherd’s voice when He called me to Him that day. The tenth chapter of the Gospel of John tells the parable of the Good Shepherd. Verse 14 says, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and My own know Me.” I knew His voice when He called me by name. And He knew mine when I answered Him.

There have been times since then when my faith has become a bit wishy-washy, but I always, always come back to my roots. In recent years and months, my faith has only grown stronger. I’m sure many people learned to rely solely on God and His Word during 2020. It looks as if 2021 is shaping up to be a bit of a challenge on many fronts, too, and we’re only two weeks in.

I don’t know about you, but our decision to follow and listen to the voice of The Good Shepherd is the thing that keeps my husband and me going when life throws us curveballs. Believe me when I tell you we’ve had more than our share of curveballs in the past few months. Without our faith, we would have crumbled.

We’re so thankful for the Good Shepherd. He’s the One calling us by name and proclaiming in Isaiah 43:1, Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.

I don’t know about you, but I want to follow The Shepherd who knows me and claims me as His own.

 

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Do you remember when you heard The Shepherd’s voice calling and you put your faith in Jesus Christ and asked Him to be the Lord of your life? Your Savior? Share that with us if you will.

 

Would you like to have that kind of faith? One in which you know the voice of The Shepherd?  Call upon the name of Jesus, The Good Shepherd. He will hear your voice. He already knows you by name. Ask Him to forgive your sins and to become the Lord of your life today. Your life will never be the same.