And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
– John 10:5
This stranger calls out to us telling us to go this way, then, no, go that way! This stranger will tell us we know what to do and will chide us and cheer us on OUR way! This stranger is so cool that we often enjoy his company and are happy to tag along with him as he seems to agree with our feelings, our gut instincts, our wants! We have read the Bible- we know what God expects from us- we know that times are evil and that people are lost! Thank goodness we are not one of those people the stranger whispers in our ear! Yes! We nod in reply- thank goodness we have it all figured out!
The stranger laughs and rubs his hands together in delight as we go out into society and in our “rightness” show how enlightened we are! He claps his hands when we declare that we will not virtue signal all while we are in fact virtue signaling! The stranger jumps in glee as we belittle someone who approached us in a way we deemed wrong- remember we are right says the stranger- let us let everyone know!
Are you following the stranger? If you are truly Christ’s disciple you will eventually hear His true voice and turn to Him- holding up your hand to cover the mouth of the stranger- keep your hand there!
The best way to do that is to stay daily in the Word of God- it doesn’t matter if you’ve been a follower of Jesus for 50 years or 2 days- Faith comes by hearing the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Another thing you can do is meditate on the fruit of the spirit which is“…love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23.
Being right and letting others know; belittling or making people into “models of how not to be”- even rude, obnoxious, evil acting people- is not spirit-filled but is certainly stranger led; and puffing oneself up with this self assurance of rightly dividing the Word of truth while blatantly ignoring your own behavior is Not spirit-filled but is, in fact, stranger danger.
Don’t give ear to the stranger! Don’t let your pride keep your heart hide from the truth found only in complete surrender to Christ! See your condition now and in the past- which should lead you to yearn to plead and extend mercy and grace to everyone God sends across your path- remembering that you once were just as, or even worse, than they…maybe not even that long ago when you should have known better!
As You Rise 