DO YOU HEAR ME?

September 8 

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

John 10:27

If Jesus were giving a spiritual hearing test today, He might ask these questions: 

1. Do you really understand what I’m saying?  Many think the Bible is just like any other book that can be understood naturally and intellectually.  However, 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 states that apart from the Holy Spirit’s help we cannot do so.  When the Holy Spirit opens and convicts a person of his need of Jesus Christ as Savior, he repents and trusts Christ alone for forgiveness, and things become much clearer.  We now have a spiritual antenna to receive God’s spiritual truth as His Spirit illuminates our minds.    

2. Do you really listen to what I’m saying?  When we do not mix personal faith with God’s Word, it’s a non-profit venture (Hebrews 4:2).  So we are thrice warned “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me” (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15; 4:7).  Are we really listening to God with agreement and acceptance?  

3. Do you really obey what I’m saying?  We can actually understand and agree with God without obeying Him!  James 1:22 hits the nail on the head, “But become doers of the Word and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”  Deluding means to cheat, defraud, make a miscalculation.  For many, obeying God’s Word is like a round-to-it that gets lost in the weedy maze of the cares, pleasures and desires of this life (Matthew 13:22). 

How have you done with Jesus’ hearing test today?  Are you content to be deaf to His desires for you?  Jesus says some 15 times in the New Testament, “He who has an ear, let him hear!”  You will be glad and blessed that you did! 

Bob Kulp