Listen

Listen

"If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord .......if you pay attention to his commands..." Exodus 15:26

There are certain promises in the Bible that attach a not so easy to do condition that we have to fulfill - listen. The promise in Exodus 15:26 is that we would experience the Lord as Jehovah Rapha, the Lord who heals us. The condition is that we have to listen carefully to His voice and obey what He commands.

But we know that listening isn't all that easy. One of the fun activities I used to enjoy doing as a principal was playing Simon Says with the students. You remember the game: if the command was preceded by "Simon says" then you had to do it. If there was no "Simon says" before the command and you did it, you were out of the game. There were some students who wouldn't last one minute. Others could do well for a while but they eventually lost concentration and missed a command. And then there were the Simon Says champions. Whether you spoke slow or fast, used your best fakes, tried every form of trickery, they listened and followed the commands.

These students always knew when to move and when to stand still. (Some of you right now are remembering how good, or bad, you were at Simon Says.) What was the difference between the winners and losers - their ability to listen to the instructions being given, to the words being spoken. In the same way, we each need to develop our listening skills. Abraham heard the voice of the angel telling him not to kill Isaac, pretty important, especially if you were Isaac. Elijah heard the still small voice encouraging him and directing his future. And Paul heard the voice of Jesus declaring God's purpose for his life.

Isaiah 30:21 says "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying 'This is the way; walk in it' ". Our ability to hear what God is saying, our skill in listening will have a major impact on our lives. Whether keeping us from making mistakes, or giving direction at crucial times, the voice of the Lord, if we can hear it, will guide our steps. Our job is to learn to block out other voices and distractions so that we can clearly hear the one voice that matters most.

God Bless,
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church