To Whom Are You Listening?
“My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5 bold and underlining added
We were created to love, obey, worship, serve, fear, revere, enjoy fellowship with, and experience the glorious presence of God forever in His everlasting, magnificent Kingdom. We were created to hear His voice so we can know Him, learn about Him, recognize Him, be in relationship with Him by seeking Him and hearing Him, and to obey and follow Him.
Are you listening to God? God has a voice. He speaks through His Word, the Bible; by His Spirit to believers in Christ who have received His Spirit; and through believers and His Creation. Everything He speaks by His voice is in line with His Word. Anything we hear that doesn’t line up with the Bible is not His voice. If you aren’t regularly, diligently studying His Word, you won’t be able to hear, recognize, and follow His voice.
Some of us are good listeners, but we’re listening to the wrong voice. Are you listening to the devil, the world, and your flesh? They have voices also. The devil, the world, and our flesh speak contrary to God’s voice. The devil uses his voice of lies and deception, the voice of the world and its wicked ways, and the voice of our flesh that is sinful by nature and ever filled with lust desirous of satisfying itself to lure us away from God to build up his kingdom of darkness with the goal we would spend eternity in hell forever apart from God and His everlasting Kingdom of glory.
The devil used his voice to lure away the first humans Adam and Eve from God, leading them into temptation so they lost fellowship with God, were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, came under the curse of sin, death, and hell, and made it such that all humans since have been born under the same curse that leads us to death and hell forever because as sinners we can’t be in the presence of a holy God. God sent Jesus to the cross to atone for our sins so we could repent, believe in and follow Christ through a life of love and obedience to God and His Word, and enter into God’s Kingdom of light forever.
Some of us are listening to the voices of the devil, world, and flesh because we are more comfortable with the devil’s lies that condone and justify our sin than we are devoted to loving and serving God.
If you’re not listening to the Lord through regular Bible study and seeking His face, it’s time to repent and turn to God – before it’s too late.