They will never follow a stranger; instead they will run from him because they don’t recognize the voice of strangers.
John 10:5 HCSB

In John 10:1-5 Jesus is using the analogy of sheep and their shepherd. He talks about how the sheep follow the shepherd because they know his voice. Our former pastor used to say that if we go to hell, we go as trespassers because we are never meant to go there.

We were created to be Christ followers. The whole program goes awry when we do not do what we were created to do. God made us in His image in hopes that we would want to be in close communication with Him. He doesn’t force us to do so, but that’s his hope anyway.

In our Scripture passage, Jesus says they would never follow a stranger but would run from him. But today in our society, we are seeing a lot of people following strangers. This is scary. People follow people on Facebook that they don’t even know. They like, love and send laugh emojis at sinful behavior. People follow televangelists without being sure that their doctrine lines up with God’s word. People follow celebrities. People are following many strangers instead of following God. People don’t have time to go to church, but they can make it to their favorite sporting event as they follow “their” team.

People wind up in relationships that are toxic because they follow their hearts and not God. The Bible tells us that we should never follow our hearts. Jeremiah 17:9 says they heart is deceitful and wicked, we should never follow our hearts. This will get us into trouble every time.

Matthew 6:33 tells us that we should not worry about anything, but we should focus on God, and He will provide all that we need. When we focus on God, then and only then can we hear His voice and recognize His voice. Then we can drown out the voices of those who may bring us harm.

Are you focusing on God today or are you following a stranger? Do you have precious little time for God because all those other idols are getting in your way? Yes, I said idols. We like to believe that we don’t have idols but anything we put in front of God in our lives is considered an idol. Even your loved ones can become idols if you put them before God.

Look at the world we live in today. Read the headlines in the news. These things are happening because people are following strangers. By strangers I mean anyone and everyone but God. They are listening to evil and perpetrating evil against others.

People love to ask why a loving God would allow these kinds of things to happen. Well, our loving God gives us free will. What we are seeing in the headlines are those people who exercise their free will to abandon God. They exercise their free will to follow evil instead of God. This is the result of their choices to leave God out of their lives.

So, what will your choice be? Will you follow God? Will you pray to Him and listen to His voice? Now let me stop here and say that by listening to His voice, I mean studying His word. God speaks to us through His word. We can’t know what He’s saying if we don’t study our Bibles.

God leads us through His Holy word, but He doesn’t force any of us to follow Him. He gives us the choice and allows us to decide for ourselves. I lived a life where I followed strangers. I followed my heart and that led to disaster. But once I started following God, He made my crooked path straight. We are told in Proverbs 3:5-6 that we should not lean on our own understanding, but acknowledge God in all we do and He will make our paths straight.

Is your path straight? Or is it filled with bumps and dangerous curves? Maybe this is because you are following the wrong shepherd. There is only one way to salvation which brings us peace and joy in this life and that is Jesus. Following Him will sometimes bring us through some treacherous terrain, but He extends His hand to help us through it.

You must decide who you will follow today. Time is getting shorter with each passing day. Isn’t it time you got on the right path? Isn’t it time you followed the One who leads us to eternal life with God the Father? Turn to Jesus, He won’t lead you astray. Trust in Him.

Have a great day!