The Voice
Do you
remember the voices of your parents? Maybe your mother always had words
of encouragement and comfort. Maybe your father always had words of
guidance and instruction. Yet, it wasn’t just what they said, but the way
they said it that spoke to your heart. Sometimes, if their voice was
harsh and sarcastic it impacted the content of what they were saying to you.
Maybe it delivered a completely different message to your heart.
The voice
of the one carrying God’s message is both about the content and the “sound” of
His voice… the voice of our Good Shepherd. Isaiah 40:2 says: “Speak
tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been
completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the
LORD's hand double for all her sins.” What is often translated as “tenderly” is literally “to the
heart.” The word carries with it the idea of the source of life of the
inner person… their feelings, thoughts, and will. We remember how it is “God
who works in us to will and to act according to his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13 ). He works in us through his
voice. We hear his voice in the Scriptures.
“Speak to
the heart of Jerusalem
Sometimes,
for better or worse, we become like our parents as we raise our own children.
Their gentleness and compassion, or their sarcasm and fear, come out as
we reflect our parents to our children and the world around us. Do people hear
the voice of the Good Shepherd in our voices? It’s not only the communicating
of facts and principles. It is God speaking to the hearts, feelings,
thoughts, will, the very souls of the people around us. As we speak to the
people God has placed in our lives, may they hear not so much our voices, but
the voice of our Good Shepherd. It is his message that speaks to the
hearts of his people. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow
me” (John 10:27 ).
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