Are you hearing or listening?

"Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you were dug .” (Isaiah 51.1)

“Listen to Me you who follow after righteousness…” Could this invitation be directed at anybody else other than God’s people? Absolutely not! If God is calling upon His people’s attention, faithfulness and obedience, it’s a sign that we, His people, have not been giving ear to Him as we should.

This may come as a shock to many, but if you take a close and sincere look into your own life, you may find that in some (or all) aspects, you are not listening to Him.

Even though you read the Bible and are attentive to the preaching during the services, you may still choose to close your ears to some directions that God is constantly trying to give you. For instance, when you choose to doubt, fear or to keep a grudge, you are not listening to Him.

To listen is not only to hear what He has to say. It is also to accept and to apply it in full. Whether you decide to listen or not, one thing is sure, your life is and will be a reflection of your decision.

What is the point in praying, coming to church and resisting evil if in the end, you are not willing to listen to God? Many people deceive themselves into thinking that they can make up their own rules for Christianity, by choosing what to believe in and what to doubt; what to obey and what to disobey; what to listen to and what not listen to. It doesn’t work that way. If you are doing so, know that such a habit can only lead you to frustration, as you are being righteous in your own eyes. Sooner or later you will come to the wrong conclusion that your lack of positive results is because God is letting you down.

That is why in the book of Revelation, God ends each of the letters to the seven Churches by saying, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.”

What the Spirit says to the Church always lifts you up, encourages you to overcome and gives you all the support you need to glorify God through your life.

What the Spirit says to the Church will give you the resources to rebuild your life, abandon sin and to be fulfilled in all aspects of your existence. By coming to church, you are definitely hearing the Word of God. But are you listening to it?