ARE WE LISTENING?
What does it mean to listen? Webster’s Dictionary defines listen as, “To try to hear something; to pay attention.” In other words, listening is an action and it is not passive. We can hear something but not necessarily listen to what we hear. The following are Bible verses that are about listening:
In Matthew 13:13, Jesus said, “Though seeing they do not see; though hearing they do not hear or understand.” (NIV)
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. Romans 10:17 (NIV)
Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say. Isaiah 28:23 (NIV)
Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:2 (NIV)
Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.” John 8: (NIV)
He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it. Luke 11:28 (NIV)
They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 1 John 4:5 (NIV)
What are we listening to? Are we listening to what the world is telling us---which is mainly doom and gloom, or are we listening to what God is telling us? We need to listen to God. We need to guard our ear gate (our ears) and also our eye gate (our eyes) in what we hear and what we watch. How do we do this? We do this by reading the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” (NLT) We also need to come before the Lord in prayer. This is very important because it is during this time especially that God, through the Holy Spirit, speaks to our hearts. We also must listen to His voice during the day. It is still difficult for me at times to decipher what is from me, the evil one, or God but I believe that the more we spend time with Him, the more we will recognize His voice. Also, listen to Christian music, especially praise and worship, to get into the presence of the Lord.
We are bombarded every second of the day with media, in whatever form. It is important to keep up with the news to a certain extent but we need to fall back on what God is telling us. God’s message is a message of hope. God created us to live with Him eternally. He has a special plan for our lives. When we surrender our lives to God, He comes in and shapes and molds us. We are who God says that we are, not what the world says. In Ephesians Chapter 1 Paul says that we are chosen, we are blessed; we have redemption through the blood of Jesus and forgiveness of sins; we have been given wisdom and understanding.
In Matthew chapter 13:4-13, Jesus spoke a parable about a sower who went out to sow seed: “As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.” 10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their yes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 16But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. 18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
In other words, I believe that you can hear something but maybe you are not listening because as the seed that fell to the ground, it is how it was received and activated or ignored or not comprehended. There are also those who, because of persecution or the worries of life and the accumulation of wealth, reject the Word. We must ask the Holy Spirit, Who is the Counselor, to give us discernment, especially at this time when there is so much deception (lies) that are being heard as truth. We need to be alert and watchful and guard what we hear and also what we see.
There is a cartoon that we have on our refrigerator that has a person with a cell phone walking from the city out into the country and the further she gets, the less signal she is receiving until it is completely gone and the caption reads: “Sometimes you have to lose the signal to get the message.” (“Rose Is Rose”)
So let’s tune into to God and tune out the voices, noises, in the world that are keeping us from receiving the message, the truth, which is in God so we can live the life that God has ordained for us and follow the path that He is leading us on and not let the world be the loudest voice that we hear!
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