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JESUS TOUR QUESTIONS ARTICLES SERMONS SUBSCRIPTIONS ABOUT | ||
Listen Carefully (Part One)Challenging his wife with a riddle, the man began, "You're the engineer of a train. There are 36 people on board. At the first stop, ten get off and two get on. At the next stop, no one gets off, but five get on. At the third stop, four get off and two get on. Now for the question: What is the name of the engineer?" "How should I know?" snapped the wife. "See, you never listen! Right at the start I said, ‘You are the engineer of a train.'" This little story shows how we often fail to listen carefully. Just as we fail to listen carefully to other people, so we frequently fail to listen carefully to the Lord. Is it not true that a key to life and good relationships is effective communication? For effective communication to occur, both parties need to be effective listeners. This is just one of the reasons we must take the study of the Bible very seriously. We need to learn and remember that we are here to listen to God through His Word and the human instruments He has chosen to communicate with us. This principle of listening runs throughout the Bible:
There can be no doubt that a large part of our Christian responsibility is to listen. We have been equipped with "ears to hear" by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which allows us to comprehend spiritual things, even "the deep things of God" (see I Corinthians 2:9-16). Ultimately, the words that we hear from Christ enable us to have eternal life, as He says in John 6:63, "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." Remember the story of Christ's transfiguration? Because they are dazzled by the glory of Christ's change and the disciples reaction to it, most people do not realize that one of its main purposes involves listening:
Like a preview of God's command in the transfiguration, Moses writes in Deuteronomy 18:15, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear." It is wonderfully significant that a title of the Son of God is the Greek term logos, which refers to a form of communication. The word means "speech, word, saying, discourse." As the Logos, Jesus Christ is the living Word of God to man, and God charges us emphatically, "Hear Him!" The point is simple: God has much to say to us, a great deal to teach us, and because He is the all-wise and sovereign God, it is imperative for us to listen carefully. But, we are ever so prone to be distracted and drawn away with other things, even with good things. Too easily, we can resemble Martha, who was distracted by so many things, rather than Mary, who sat at the feet of the Savior to listen raptly to His Word.
Jesus gently corrects Martha's complaining attitude by telling her that, while her service is admirable, Mary's listening was better. Hearing the words of the Lord is a higher priority and has greater longevity, since a service is effectual for just a short while but God's instruction is eternal. Jesus promises that Mary's choice to listen to Him would not be taken from her. We will look deeper into the importance of listening carefully in Part Two. Clyde Finklea |
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The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. |
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