Much of the time what is often referred to as God speaking to someone is either conscience or intuition, and while these are blessings and gifts of God, they are as much (or less) the voice of God as basic logic and calculation; and humans fail in their intuitions as much or more as in their logical conclusions.

When Scripture speaks of the sheep hearing and knowing the voice of the shepherd, this is what Scripture is speaking of when it says, for example, "I tell you not these things because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and ye know that no lie is of the truth" 1J 2.

God has given us the ability to think, to know, which is the the ability to discern the truth, and God's voice is truth itself. He has given us the ability, and commands us to be wise.

Those who have not blinded themselves, who have not cast aside the knowledge they have, who are not willingly ignorant, those who have the integrity to acknowledge what God has given them the ability to recognise, they are the sheep who know and hear the shepherd's voice.

We should be grateful to God for instinct and insight, without exalting these things as being more direct than other gifts of God. If someone insists that they are hearing the personal voice of the Creator himself, they must do a miracle to prove it.

#sabbathposts 2024/10/26