The Voice
As many of you know, I have a pet monkey. For those of you who don’t know Nicco yet, let me give you a brief introduction of him now:
Nicco is a 10 month old spider monkey that I bought for about $12.00 in a city nearby the community where I serve. I got Nicco when he was only about 4 months old and he’s been a wonderful companion. Nicco goes free in the community and comes in and goes out of my window as he pleases. During the day, he swing in the trees, eats insects, and play with the kids. At night, because he is afraid of the dark, he is in my room and in his little hammock, asleep by 7:00pm.
Nicco and I have a system. Whenever I call Nicco’s name, he knows that means his “momma” has a banana for him, so he calls back to me - he lets out a couple of loud squeaks to let me know his whereabouts. We continue the “calling system” back and forth until I am close enough to his location for him to make a bee-line for my arm, to sit there and eat his banana.
This last week, something came over me and I had a terrible head and chest cold. One day, after coming back from my normal morning house visits for devotions, I, like always, called for my little Nicco. No response. I called again and again. Still, nothing. A bit worried that someone might have decided Nicco would make a good, fried side-dish to their lunch, I asked a couple nearby children if they had seen Nicco. They took me to the tree he was joyously swinging from branch to branch and eating insects. As soon as he saw me, he ran for my arm and ate his banana.
Then it hit me... My voice doesn’t sound like my normal voice because of this illness. Nicco didn’t know this voice that was calling for him, therefore, he didn’t answer it.
The same is true with us and God. Once part of the family of God through salvation, we become sons and daughters of God.
1 John 3:1a “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”
In John 10:4b - 5, Jesus refers to His own as “sheep” and says, “His sheep follow Him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Nicco didn’t call back to me the other day because to him, my voice was that of a stranger.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we know our Father’s voice. It’s not strange to us. Any other voice you hear inside your head is that of a stranger – a deceiver – an evil one; RUN from this voice! Don’t listen to the words of guilt and lies surrounding a situation you know you have already been forgiven from! Don’t believe the self-condemning words that are whispered in your ear! You are a child of God, and he speaks good, encouraging, productive words for His loved ones to hear. Don’t listen to the voice telling you to do something or say something you know does not line up with the Word of God. Run, Run, RUN away from these strange voices and run in to the arms of your Father, the Good Shepherd, whose voice is distinguishably better than any other.
Stand Out today by tuning in to hear Jesus calling your name.
Nicco and I have a system. Whenever I call Nicco’s name, he knows that means his “momma” has a banana for him, so he calls back to me - he lets out a couple of loud squeaks to let me know his whereabouts. We continue the “calling system” back and forth until I am close enough to his location for him to make a bee-line for my arm, to sit there and eat his banana.
This last week, something came over me and I had a terrible head and chest cold. One day, after coming back from my normal morning house visits for devotions, I, like always, called for my little Nicco. No response. I called again and again. Still, nothing. A bit worried that someone might have decided Nicco would make a good, fried side-dish to their lunch, I asked a couple nearby children if they had seen Nicco. They took me to the tree he was joyously swinging from branch to branch and eating insects. As soon as he saw me, he ran for my arm and ate his banana.
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