Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your
servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
Am I
hearing what God is saying? Perhaps I’ve listened well to one of his commands,
but I’ve turned a deaf ear to the rest. This is how I show God that I don’t
love or respect him: I act like I can’t hear him, even though he is speaking to
me clearly. Samuel deliberately turned his attention to God, and assured God
that his ears were open.
Jesus
said, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). Am I being a
friend to the Lord, or am I disobeying his commands? If I’d been listening, I
wouldn’t have consciously disobeyed. Most of us don’t care enough to listen.
Our Lord might as well have said nothing at all.
The goal
of my spiritual life is to be so closely identified with Jesus Christ that I
always hear God and I know that he always hears me (John 17).
When I am identified with the Lord like this, my ears are attuned to his voice
at every moment and in every situation. A lily, a tree, the words of one of his
servants: all may convey God’s message. If I haven’t cultivated this devotion
of listening, his voice comes through to me only at certain times. Most of the
time, caught up in serving or in my convictions, I pretend I’m too busy to
listen. Serving is a good thing, but if it drowns out God’s voice, I know my
devotion is running in the wrong direction.
Have I
heard God’s voice today, or have I become deaf to him?
No comments:
Post a Comment