A few weeks ago I was sitting on our porch with my husband after a long day of work for both of us. It was one of those summer nights that screams Ohio. The sunset was pink and purple in all the best ways, the air was getting cool enough to be comfortable, and it was right before all the mosquitoes came out for their evening feast. We caught up from our day, and just having put our son down for bedtime a half hour before, we were enjoying each other’s company and the stillness of the evening.
A neighbor was leaving with a friend to go for a joy ride on his motorcycle when I yelled down to her. Our son, who was fast asleep a whole house and window shut a part from us (with a sound machine pumping his favorite white noise beats), all of a sudden began screaming. We still can only guess as to what startled him from his slumber. My voice.
Since utero, this child knows my voice. When I walk into a room and speak, his little head turns automatically toward the noise (trust me, I know I only probably have a few months before he learns to ignore me) and smiles. When I say his name, he automatically looks in my direction. He knows me and he knows my voice, even in whisper, aggravation, and in excitement. I’m no Robin Williams, but I can do a terrific Monster’s Inc.’s Roz. (That’s the end of my talents.) Even speaking in that voice, or no matter how high pitched, goofy, or low on the scale, our son knows it’s me. He knows my voice.
I have been reading and re-reading John 10 from my Bible for the last month or so. I can’t seem to get past it. There is just so many nuggets to unpack each time I read that passage of scripture and in my opinion, it’s so beautiful. It’s not lost on me the power of God’s voice. He created the Earth with it. He calmed the Sea of Galilee with it. He healed people by speaking. And he also died because of the words he said (claiming to be God). John tells us that Jesus said that his sheep (his people) will also know it. Therefore, if we know his voice we know him.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”…27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:14-27
Just like my son knows I am my voice and my voice is me. He knows the difference between his family members and friends’ voices and mom’s. It’s not just the words actually said, it’s the voice itself. We know God’s voice when we know his word (the Bible). It’s not this crazy narrator man in our heads, but Scripture.
The question is, do I know it? Do we know it? Because if we know it, we know him.
