Are You Listening?

What do you hear? As the popular Christmas song goes, the lyrics are:

“Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?”

You may not be hearing any sleigh bells, but I really wonder who it is that you’re listening to these days. Is it God? He does speak to our hearts. He even speaks audibly to some. He wants to guide us. We may not seem to think so because oftentimes He is silent. Yet, many times, He is speaking and guiding, but I believe we’re just not listening. We need to be attentive.

In many parts of the world, as it is here in mine, did you hear the countdown to the New Year? It’s 2016! People shout it out: 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!

Are you listening? What do you hear?

When you attended school, you were supposed to be listening to the teacher. You were told to be quiet. If you weren’t listening, you were talking when you shouldn’t have been or you were listening to someone else. Or maybe you just got lost in your own thoughts.

We are lost without our Savior, who is the Great Shepherd. He leads us where we need to go. We need to hear Him to be able to follow Him. However, if we’re not listening, we won’t hear Him, and we won’t be guided onto the right path.

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

In the Bible, in Revelation, the following is stated repeatedly when this reference is made to each of the churches: “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.”

When Jesus Christ walked the earth, He said: “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.” (John 5:24)

To pass from death into life while already alive means we have died to our sins and our old “flesh” has been buried with our sins. Then we get baptized and our sins are washed away. Now we live in our spirit, so that we can please God and follow Him in obedience. Sometimes, we slip and fail, but He never lets us fall away completely, as long as we don’t turn away from Him.

We are warned: “Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don't listen because you don't belong to God.” (John 8:47)

We live in a time in which the following scripture clearly states what has now happened. The time is here:

“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Titus 4:3)

This is the reason why we must be even more attentive to listening to God.

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)

In fact, we are told: “Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!” (Hebrews 12:25)

“Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” (James 1:19)

“But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror.” (James 1:22-23)

So, I will ask you again: Are you listening? Who are you listening to now? What do you hear? Are you staying quiet at all, so that you can hear?

In 1 Kings 19, we learn that Elijah heard the voice of God, and His voice was not like the strong wind or the earthquake. Elijah heard God’s “still, small voice.” We may need to be silent before God, listening to hear Him clearly. Our future depends on it.

Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself, and may you be attentive to hear His call and His guidance. 

God’s Word for Today: “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them.” (Deuteronomy 11:6); “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27) 

Copyright © 2016 by Patricia Shehan

All scripture is quoted from various translations of the Holy Bible (God’s Word) and is set it italics.