Day Thirty-One: Are YOU Listening?
“1 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.” (Mark 4:1-3)
If you’re like me, you hear WAY more information than you can comprehend, let alone understand in its entirety. So, you adjust your “audible antennas” to alert when something requires your focus. The problem that arises for more of us is that the factors and variables we use for tuning are not capable of picking up the essential information God wants us to hear, and that which we desperately need to know.
So, Jesus being AMAZING addresses this dangerous phenomenon by telling His followers to “LISTEN!” That’s it, a one-word sentence dramatically placed at the beginning of arguably the most prolific revelation of how God speaks and why people fail to hear. Now the Greek word for “Listen” here is translated “to give audience to.” In effect, Jesus is exclaiming, “give me your attention, become my audience.” An audience has made significant adjustments and sacrifices to listen. They have eliminated outside distractions, said “no” to other possible schedule conflicts, and have removed all noise that will prevent them from hearing.
Jesus is asking us to do the same! Will you become my audience so that I can share with you the information you desperately need. As a pastor, I get asked frequently, “How can I hear from God?” I respond, “Listen.” As much as we try to make the process more complicated than needed, all it takes for us to hear from God is to listen without distraction. So, decide today to schedule time alone with God. He is speaking, but ARE YOU LISTENING?
Blessings,
Andy Smith