Can you whistle? Some people cannot. I’ve really never understood why anyone can’t whistle. I learned to whistle when I was young. I can whistle a tune like the theme from the Andy Griffith Show. But I can also whistle using my fingers in my mouth. In fact, I am called on frequently in a crowd to get everyone’s attention because that whistle can be ear splittingly loud if need be.
My whistle has served me well through the years. I remember one time when my boys were young and we were at a high school ballgame. When I was ready to go I gave a short whistle. Someone standing nearby asked why I did that. I replied that I was calling my boys. Within seconds each of the boys appeared coming from 2 different directions. They just knew their father’s whistle!
Years later when my younger son was in his 30s and officiating high school football, I went to watch him officiate one night. Many people go to games to watch the players, some go to watch the band, others the cheerleaders, but I go to watch the officials. At this particular game there was a huge crowd. My son did not know I was there that night. But at the end of the first half, as the officials were walking off the field, when they got near the end where I was standing, I gave a short whistle. And my son immediately began scanning that area of the crowd until he found me. When I asked him about it later he said “I would recognize that whistle anywhere.” He knew his father’s whistle!
There is a special bonding between fathers and sons. This bonding was developed over years of life experiences. Though my sons are now grown and have families of their own, I treasure those memories. I know they are making memories of their own now, but it warms my heart to know they still know their father’s whistle.
Zechariah the prophet once said, “I will whistle for them and gather them.” (Zechariah 10:8)
The word whistle is not found in the New Testament but there is a Scripture that comes to mind in keeping with these thoughts. In John 10:4, Jesus makes this statement speaking of Himself as the Shepherd, “…the sheep follow him for they know his voice.” The sheep know the voice of the shepherd. I know very little about sheep but I imagine the truth in that statement was well understood in that culture.
Jesus tells us later in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
If our desire is spend eternity in heaven, we must realize Jesus is the only way. We must seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). We must know Him. John tells us in 1 John 2:3, “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” We must know Him and know His voice. We must be able to distinguish His way from all others. We hear the voice of Jesus as He speaks to us through the Scriptures.
My boys knew their father’s whistle. I am thankful for that. But I am infinitely more thankful that they know the voice of Jesus. My question is do you know your Savior’s voice? Don’t you want to know the voice of the Shepherd? Be diligent to seek Him through the study of His word. I want to be able to distinguish His voice from all others. Just as my sons could distinguish my whistle in the long ago.