John 10:5 is one of the clearest lines in the Good Shepherd passage. Jesus says His sheep will not follow a stranger. They will flee, because they do not know the voice of strangers.

That challenges the way we often talk about discernment. Discernment is not presented here as an advanced skill for elite Christians. It’s normal for sheep who stay close enough to the Shepherd that His voice becomes familiar.

The key is this. Discernment is not driven by paranoia. It’s formed by proximity. The primary strategy is not fear. It’s familiarity. Over time, the voice of Jesus starts to sound like life, and other voices start to sound foreign.

Some stranger voices are obvious. Others are respectable and common. Hurry can sound like responsibility but slowly pulls you away from love and attention. Accusation can quote Scripture but lead you into shame instead of repentance with hope. Control can present itself as wisdom while training you to trust yourself more than God. Performance can promise safety if you do enough, while Jesus calls you by name and leads you out.

John 10:5 is not a trick. It’s a way of life. A sheep does not learn the shepherd’s voice by studying voice recognition. It learns it by being with the shepherd.

Question for today: What stranger voice have I been entertaining lately, and what would it look like to create distance and return my attention to the voice of Jesus?