A group of young people saw a downhill skier going down the hill with someone else super close behind them. The skier in the front was an instructor. They were yelling instructions to the person behind: “Left, right, straight, right.”

Thinking it would be funny to mess them up, the youth started calling out their own set of instructions. They figured they could throw them off by confusing the person in the back!

But the two skiers were unfazed. The one behind continued to do exactly what the instructor was saying.

When the skiers got closer they realized something and became embarrassed. They could see a sign on the chest of the person in the back:

“Blind Skier”!*

You’re right. They shouldn’t have done it. But the story illustrates something significant.

The blind skier was able to tune out the other distracting voices which were trying to throw him off. We need to do the same thing: tune out the other distracting voices which are trying to throw us off.

In John 10:27 Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Do you have a decision to make? A direction to choose? A priority to set?

Do your best to learn what Jesus teaches and act accordingly.

Don’t get distracted by the dozens of other voices which have a remarkable tendency to try and throw you off course.

By Matthew Ruttan

–“Don’t Give Up.” That’s my latest sermon. It’s the final installment in the “Mature” series. Click here to watch on YouTube, or here (and scroll down) for the audio-only download.

–*As told in: Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola, Jesus Speaks: Learning to Recognize and Respond to the Lord’s Voice (Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 2016), xiii-xiv.

–Bible quotes from the NIV.