Daylight savings time coming up.  My preference would be either do without it, or make it all year long. 

Seems silly to hear people say they lose or gain an hour’s sleep and how difficult it is to adjust.  Although, some say they have a ‘scientific basis’ for it.

Ken works for a department where the patrol division has two twelve hour days 0600 to 1800 and then the next night they start two twelve hour nights 1800 to 0600.  I don’t think it is healthy, but they have been doing it for at least 14 years and probably a lot longer.

Deed and Teresa have similar 12 hour days, although they work them differently, switching, for the most part, one from the other with a few days off in between.  Deed’s is a ‘bit’ longer day since she has a one and a half hour drive – both ways so hers is actually a 15 plus hour day.

Day light savings time is a piece of cake when you compare it to those kinds of shifts.

AND, of course, the animals don’t care for it either – they have an internal clock that is quite accurate and it messes with their timing – not to mention making them unhappy and ‘yelling’ at their masters for not feeding them, or other necessary things at their ‘usual’ time.

Some of you have heard this story before, but it is always worth repeating and I think of it at least twice a year.

I was in the meeting room going over my budget with the budget committee, six people, three commissioners and three citizens.

One of the citizens was John, a burly ranch owner from south county.  He controlled several thousand acres with hundreds of cows.  He didn’t recognize day light savings time – neither did his cattle.

We used to have the fire siren go off every day at noon and this particular day it did as it always does.

John looked down at his watch and said, “I see it is 1100.”

I said, ‘No, John, that is the noon whistle.’

In a matter of fact tone he said, ‘Oh, your noon whistle goes off at 1100, huh?’

He got me, hook line and sinker.

John 10:27-30 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

²⁹ My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

³⁰ I and my Father are one.

In the early years of gramophones RCA Victor advertised their gramophones with a dog sitting and looking into the horn, with the caption ‘he hears his master’s voice.’  It was effective and was used in advertising well into the 1980’s.

It capitalized on the fact that dogs do indeed recognize their master’s voice, over strangers, as do many animals.

My grandfather would stand at the barn door and call his cows in from the pasture – if they were not already there – and they would come in to be milked.

I took Blaze into my second favorite Vet clinic, the first is in Coos Bay, to have his teeth cleaned and vaccinations updated.

We took him in the morning, they would put him to sleep to do the procedure and then we picked him up at closing.

I went into the examining room to wait while the tech brought him in.  I could hear her coaching him along as he walked down the hall.  The distinctive clicks of his nails on the floor started and stopped, started again and stopped.

I called his name and he came along better with her.  He was groggy as could be expected, but he knew my voice and wanted to come in – if only to give me that glare saying ‘why did you do this to me?’

The more time an animal owner spends with their animal, the more the animal recognizes and listens to them.  They can pick his voice out of a crowd they know it so well.  They are comforted by it and want to come – although poor Blaze is still skittish even with me, he still comes.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Unlike animals who must depend on their masters to make time for them, Christians much make time for our Master.  He is always there, but he doesn’t force Himself on us.

The more time we spent with Christ, the better we can pick His voice out of all the crazy noises, sounds and voices that inundate us in today’s world.  This also includes the technical things around us, television, movies, social media; they cloud our minds and demand our attention.

We are pulled this way and that, our time is under constant demands, yet, when we hear the voice of Christ we can distinguish it from all the clamors and be drawn to Him – but we must listen for Him.

His voice comes to us in many ways, one is the Bible, another is through our conscience still another is through others as they counsel or give us encouragement – we but have to listen and understand that He is talking to us.

When we spend quiet times with Jesus His voice becomes readily recognized and we know what He speaks to us is truth – we can weed through all the false doctrines, all the false ‘prophets,’ all the brouhaha and know that what we read and hear is God’s truth to us.

God’s truth never changes, despite those that would try and re-arrange, add or subtract verses because it doesn’t fit today’s society – His Word is the one thing we can depend on as being consistent and honest, allowing us to live our life in ways that please Him.

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

The world is full of conflicts, full of advice to us that is often counterproductive and even more often it is an attempt to lead us from Christ.

But the world and satan’s minions, are unable to take or keep us from God.  With all their destructive efforts they cannot keep us from God; among everything is the, often quiet, Word of Jesus that we can listen to and follow no matter our circumstances.

We but have to listen and be familiar with His voice in the quiet times to know it in the chaotic mess that surrounds us each day, trying to take us away from Him.

If the question is asked of us “when did you last hear your master’s voice” we should be able to say just a few moments ago and we expect to hear it all day long.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Later, Art :-)