John 10:3–To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

I remember vividly, two weeks before I came to know Jesus Christ, I met a man at the airport while going through security who began witnessing to me.  Not about Jesus, but about Islam and the teachings of the Q’uran.  At the time I had to listen because we were in line together, but something about what he said never sat well with me…
While arriving back in Washington after meeting that guy, I met up with a childhood friend who began to witness to me about Jesus Christ.  Something about what he said at that time rang so deep, that I felt a wave of emotion that I never felt in hearing something “religious”.  That night I went home, and opened one of the many small Bibles I had received from the “Gideons” while away at school years ago.
Though I never read the Bible at all growing up, nor went to Church but maybe four times. I read it with a sense of engagement that definitely wasn’t normal for me.  But I enjoyed reading it, and as I continued to read it, I felt like it was speaking to me continually about things I knew I had to reconcile.  A week later, I came to Jesus Christ, and this same voice seemed to penetrate deeper and deeper as I continued reading the Bible..
Jesus says from this passage that His sheep will know His voice.  Though I did not know I was a “sheep” of His, the fact that I began hearing His voice confirmed that I was.  That in His choosing, He gave me the privilege to hear His voice and follow Him, and until this day continually working out my salvation through His Word/voice…(Ephesians 1:4, Philippians 2:12″
I challenge you to distinguish what you know about the Word, versus hearing God’s voice through the Word?  There is a difference.  One is having knowledge of God’s Word, which is important and can make us wise unto salvation.  But hearing His voice, comes from familiarity, time spent, praying, but most importantly listening to obey.  How readily do you listen to hear God’s voice?  The desire to listen, has a lot to do with our desire to follow Jesus.  Our lack of listening, generally comes from being distracted by our own agenda.  (Romans 10:17, 2 Timothy 3:15)