Receiving life and learning to walk in that life have remained together throughout this study.
Now I want to consider hearing.
When Scripture describes someone hearing, what follows? Do they recognize what they hear? Do they understand it immediately? And how do they discern what deserves their trust?
These questions matter because following requires more than being impressed by a message or confident in the person delivering it.
The Sheep Hear and Follow
In John 10:3–5, Jesus describes a shepherd calling his own sheep by name and leading them out. The sheep follow because they know his voice. They do not follow the stranger.
Later, Jesus brings hearing, being known, and following together:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
John 10:27, ASV
The relationship includes recognition and response.
For my study, I want to notice where that response leads. Jesus describes the good shepherd as caring for the sheep and laying down His life for them. His voice belongs within that account of His character, teaching, and care.
The question is therefore more searching than whether something sounds convincing: whose teaching am I following, and what does it lead me to do?
Seeing Before Recognizing
Mary Magdalene’s encounter with Jesus gives me another detail to consider.
In John 20:11–18, she sees Jesus standing there but does not recognize Him. He speaks to her, yet she initially supposes He is the gardener.
Then He calls her by name.
She turns and addresses Him as Teacher. After receiving His instruction, she goes to the disciples with her report.
What catches my attention is the movement from seeing without recognizing to recognition and response. Jesus was present before she understood whom she was seeing.
I bring this beside the shepherd passage as a comparison. Being called by name is present in both accounts, while each retains its own setting.
Teachers Seen and a Word Heard
Isaiah 30:20–21 contains a distinction I do not want to pass over.
In the ASV, the eyes see the teachers, while the ears hear a word behind them directing their way.
I want to preserve both descriptions before deciding the teachers’ identity or how the details relate.
The surrounding chapter also matters. Earlier, the people refuse to hear the instruction of YHWH (יהוה) and ask for pleasing messages. Later, the promise of guidance is followed by their rejection of idols. Isaiah 30:9–11, 22
That gives hearing a practical consequence.
The contrast concerns a willingness to receive direction, including direction that challenges what people have previously wanted or followed.
Discernment Belongs With Hearing
1 John 4:1–6 instructs readers to test the spirits rather than believe every spiritual claim. The warning concerns false prophets, what they confess about Jesus Christ, and their response to the apostolic witness.
This means examination belongs within faith.
A person’s confidence, religious position, or moving presentation cannot replace examining what is being taught. The same responsibility applies to my own conclusions. Recognizing a familiar pattern can begin an inquiry, but I still need to follow the passages and consider their context.
As I study, I ask: what does the text actually say? What am I comparing? Have I allowed an assumption to become a conclusion before examining it?
Love Remains Part of the Examination
The same chapter connects knowing God with love. It challenges a claim to love God when hatred toward another person remains. 1 John 4:7–21
That keeps discernment connected with conduct.
I cannot use spiritual language to excuse cruelty. Nor should studying make me unwilling to listen, acknowledge an error, or care for someone who disagrees with me.
In my experience, something could draw my attention to Scripture before I understood the connection fully. Understanding required returning to the text, comparing passages, and remaining willing to learn.
That is the movement I want to preserve in this study: hearing, recognizing, examining, and responding. My desire is to keep following YHWH (יהוה) through Christ with a heart willing to receive correction and a life increasingly shaped by love.
Threads to Follow
The shepherd’s voice, recognition, and following.
Mary Magdalene: seeing before recognizing.
Isaiah’s teachers seen and a word heard.
Testing teachings and examining our own conclusions.
Love as essential to the life we profess.
The books were opened…
🌿 By Maria Emilia
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