While feeding the horses yesterday morning, something rather interesting happened.

In the middle of doling out feed, I heard a siren coming. Nothing out of the ordinary about that considering we live on the road that connects our town to a very busy four-lane highway. We hear them almost daily.

This siren, however, went silent just short of our property. Concerned for our neighbors up the road or the possibility of a wreck being nearby, I tuned my ears to the situation. What I heard next was very unexpected though!

As I watched the quieted ambulance zoom on past our property with lights still flashing, something from the back of our property sounded off, sending a shiver up my spine.

Right off the cuff, it sounded human. I nervously wondered who it could be. Our 80 acres is surrounded by hundreds of acres of thick timberland. Was a nearby hunter playing a joke?

As I tried to convince myself that I was hearing nothing more than our local pack of coyotes respond to the siren (as they often do), I heard the noise again. It was a holler of sorts, not at all resembling the normal yips and howls of the coyotes.

A few more of the creepy calls resonated across our clear cut. Confusion set in. At one point, it almost sounded like a cow beginning to bellow but immediately turned into more of a scream. Knowing there are no cows anywhere remotely close to the back of our property, I began to wonder, “Could this mystery voice belong to a bobcat?”

I quickly finished feeding and turned to my trusty, hand-held, travel size encyclopedia.... Google.

My first search was of coyotes responding to sirens. I already knew it sounded nothing like them, but I needed reassurance.

Next, I tried “bobcats responding to sirens.” Apparently, this isn’t something as common as coyotes calling back to them (which I kinda figured) as this search had no matching results. It did, however, land me on a large collection of YouTube videos featuring bobcat calls and screams.

As I went from one video to another, I had to continually remind myself of what my mystery animal sounded like. Nothing I had heard so far on the videos sounded exactly like it, though some had a close resemblance. Nonetheless, they were now ALL filling my mind and making it increasingly difficult to remember the “real thing.”

The most important voice you will ever hear in life can be drowned out in much the same way.

There’s a hunger in all of us to hear truth. Many of us are searching to find the “real thing.” Yet, with so many voices calling out, many of which sound very alike, it can be difficult to discern who we should listen to. Who has the truth?

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life...” (John 14:6) And for those of us who have found the truth in Christ, we must be diligent to listen only to the voice of our shepherd and not to false impersonators.

“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:13-15

But maybe you haven’t been taught the scriptures that will make you “wise unto salvation.” Maybe you’ve never been taught to recognize the voice of truth at all. Maybe you feel like you should listen more closely for it.

I urge you to consider Jesus’ invitation found in Revelation 3:20....

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hears my voice and will open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me.”

In the words of the timeless hymn, The Savior is Waiting:

“Time after time, He has waited before, And now He is waiting again

To see if you're willing to open the door: O how He wants to come in.”