Recognizing His Voice?

I recently saw an old verse in a new light and it pieced together some other thoughts I have had regarding Jesus’ relationship with His disciples.  The verse is in John 10:4, where it says that Jesus’ sheep know His voice and they follow Him.  I have always assumed this meant that Christians recognize the voice of God speaking to them in a still small voice throughout the day.  My experience has not proven this out.  There are times when I thought God was speaking to me and it wasn’t God.  Like when I felt God was telling me a certain girl was going to be my wife, and then she got married to someone else (glad I didn’t tell her what “God” told me).  It obviously wasn’t God.  Now I have always explained this away by saying that I was decieved by the devil who comes as an “angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14) but if this verse is talking about the still small voice, then that wouldn’t happen to Christians.  I have too much experience in my relationship with Christ to question my salvation, so I just shrugged it off to not being close enough to God.  Now, I am not saying that isn’t the case.  It is possible.  But, what if Jesus wasn’t talking about after He was gone and we were hearing the “voice of God” in our heads?  What if he was talking about the people who heard him physically then and there?  It would definitely fit with other scriptures then. If Jesus was saying that those that listen to Him and follow Him are His sheep, He was referring to those who had responded to what He had to say.

Early in his ministry Jesus identified those who had “nothing false” in them (John 1:47).  These are people who desire truth.  Then Jesus told Pilate that “Those who are on the side of truth listen to me” (John 18:37).  And the reason the Pharisees resisted Him so much was because they were unable to acknowledge truth (John 8:43).  So there are some people who are more interested in getting their way than in what is true, and they will resist it even if it is proven to them (Matthew 28:11-13).  Be a seeker and acknowledger of truth, even if it hurts, and puts you in a bad light.  It is better to know the truth, than to live in a blissful world that isn’t real.  We will all see the truth eventually.