Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Listening and Obeying

Well, these are some lessons that I'm learning about, but have definitely not mastered. My husband would agree that I can be VERY stubborn and hard-headed! :) That's a trait that I hope will change over time! :)

Over the past several months as I've done Bible study, the topics of listening and heeding or obeying have come up again and again. So...either I'm not getting the message or God is just really hammering this message in hard. I thought I'd share these thoughts with you.

John 10:27 according to Everett's Alphabet Bible Songs cd: "my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow Me"

After we hear Him, we obey (DO WHAT HE SAYS).

James 1:22 - But be doers of the Word (obey the message), and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves (into deception by reasoning contrary to the truth).

Obey means:
- to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of
- to respond conformably in action to
- to submit or conform in action to

I Samuel 15:22 - Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Why is obedience better than sacrifice?
Sacrifice was a religious ritual, an outward show
Obedience comes out of true devotion and a desire to please the person obeyed; obedience is from the heart!

I believe that if we are willing to listen God speaks to us often. Sometimes it can be something very simple. Sometimes I think we probably dismiss His voice as just a silly thought, but we would be so much better off doing what He says! An example of this is a simple lesson I learned recently that I will not forget: NO GRAPE JUICE IN THE LIVING ROOM!

The other day I was thirsty and having made a big pitcher of grape juice that morning I decided I would sit down with a nice tall glass of it and drink it while I checked my email. As I was thinking about this, in my heart I heard "no grape juice in the living room". That's a silly thought I thought to myself. After all, I am an adult, been drinking from a cup for a very long time, I know what I'm doing, I'm thirsty and I want grape juice. So, I proceeded to pour that tall glass, walk into the living room and sit down at my computer. I sat my glass down on the table and started reading email. Soon I became thirsty and reached for my glass, but instead of grabbing it, I knocked it over spilling grape juice all over my living room rug, tile floor, etc. Arggg, I thought as I caught the cup and placed it back on my computer table and ran to get a towel. As I mopped up the mess, I realized that I was... STILL THIRSTY (are you getting it yet that I am extremely hard-headed?). So I reached for the glass and knocked it off the table the other way spilling it all over the other side of the rug and on my couch. Hmmm....and the moral of the story is not really "no grape juice in the living room", it is if you hear God speak (and yes, I really do believe that simple instruction was from the Lord), don't reason with Him thinking you know better, you're a big girl and can do what you want, LISTEN AND OBEY...or you'll be cleaning up the mess that follows after your disobedience!

My prayer today is that I will learn to be sensitive to God when He gives commands about the little things so that when the bigger things come I will already have the habit of obeying Him!

Have a great day everyone!!! :)

Dina