“Listen Up”

How many times as a parent of young children did I say, “Listen to me…Are you listening?…What did I say?”

How many times as a student and an employee did my teacher or boss say, “Pay attention to this…you will need this in the future…Listen to me…watch what I’m doing…Do you understand?…What did I say/mean?…”

How often did Jesus say to His followers, “Listen to what I say…?”

• “He called the people to him again and said to them, ‘Hear me, all of you, and understand.'” (Mk. 7:14)
• “But I say to you who hear…” (Lk. 6:27)
• “Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like…” (Lk. 6:47)
• “As he said these things, he called out, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'” (Lk. 8:8)
• “…blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” (Lk. 11:28)

Jesus spoke words like that perhaps dozens of times.  His repeated admonition to listen to Him is a call to listen to the Word of God.  He is not speaking good ideas.  He is speaking the inerrant, unchanging revelation of God.  He is telling something of the truth of God and His world that is unknown to us (until He speaks). 

His repeated admonition to listen to Him is a reminder of the importance of listening to Him and God’s revelation.  He says it repeatedly because it is essential.  It is of greatest importance.  It is critical to listen.

And His repeated admonition to listen to Him is also a reminder of the disciples’ (and our) propensity not to listen.  He says it repeatedly because we are prone to ignore His direction.  He says it repeatedly because we are prone to forget what He says.  He says it repeatedly because we are prone not to act on what He says.  His words are not an academic or theological exercise but a call to action and a call to obedience. 

For many who are in the church, the question is not, “Do you believe the Word of God is the revealed Word of God?”  The answer to that question most often is, “Yes…of course…”  The question is not whether we cognitively recognize the wisdom of God in His Word.  The question is if we recognize the authority of the Word of God and that believing it is authoritative, we act on what we hear from God’s Word.  Do we obey what He says? 

Thomas Watson captured the importance of heeding the revealed Word when he wrote, 

“If the Word be not regarded, it will not be remembered. Many complain they cannot remember. Here is the reason: God punishes their carelessness in hearing with forgetfulness. He suffers Satan to take away the Word from them, ‘The fowls of the air came and devoured the seed’ (Matt. 13:4). The devil is not one who refuses to come to church; he attends, but not with any good intent; he takes away the Word from men. How many have been robbed of the sermon and their souls both at once.”

Have you heard?  Have you obeyed?  Are you really listening?

“Listen” by ky_olsen is licensed under CC BY 2.0.