One morning, while walking my dog, I noticed another, larger dog just a few yards away from us. This dog was not on a leash, and I immediately thought, “Oh no. Here comes trouble.”

I crossed the street to the other side to avoid a possible confrontation with the dog, but he saw us anyway and started heading in our direction.

Suddenly, the most amazing thing happened. The dog’s owner yelled its name, and the dog stopped dead in its tracks. He turned around and followed his master.

At the sound of his master’s voice, the dog obeyed.

Contrast this to the toddler who lives across the street from me. He “escaped” his house one day, and I heard his mother screaming, “Johnny, come back! Johnny! Johnny, stop!” But the little boy did not stop. Instead, he ran right into the street before his mother could catch him. Thankfully, he wasn’t harmed, but the results could have been grim.

Listening, but not obeying could have led to dire consequences.

There’s some spiritual significance here, and it’s not too hard to find. How many times throughout the Old Testament does God link hearing His voice with obedience? Do a keyword search on the terms “voice” and “obey” and you’ll find at least 100 passages throughout the Bible.

God is serious about this.

In Hebrews, God reminds the people of His command given to the Israelites long ago:

“Today, when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled.” (Hebrews 3:15 NLT)

He wants us to stop dead in our tracks, turn around if necessary, and obey. All at the sound of His voice.

Are you listening?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shelly enjoys her “Life on the Wild Side” with her husband, three daughters, and her amazing yellow lab, Thunder. You can read about their everyday adventures at Life on the Wild Side.

Photo credit: morguefile.com