“Nobody listens to Turtle.” A classic line from an old movie The North Shore. Turtle is the nickname of one of the main characters; he tries to explain the ways of life and surf to people on the island. But nobody listens. I feel his pain. Ever feel like no one listens to you? I see and hear it everywhere. Employees don’t listen to their bosses. Children don’t listen to their parents (or their teachers). Christians don’t listen to God or follow His Word. We don’t listen to our doctors and follow their advice. We don’t listen to our spouse. We barely listen to our friends when they are sharing their hearts and struggles. We. Don’t. Listen. In fact, we spend a lot of our time tuning others out, especially God and His Word.
“Listen” is one of those words that sounds weird after you say it over and over again. But it is an important word and it’s in the Bible quite a bit. Because, surprise, surprise, the Israelites didn’t listen either. The first-century church wasn’t listening either. Hence all the letters Paul needed to write to them. Reminding, reminding, reminding of the rules. Ever feel exhausted from reminding others? Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a day where everyone listened and did what they were supposed to do? Without a thousand reminders.
I’m sure glad God isn’t tired of reminding us and giving us grace when we don’t listen. I only have so much grace to pour out to people; God, on the otherhand, has no limit to his grace.
One of my favorite verses about listening is when Jesus is telling the disciples for a SECOND time that He will be betrayed and crucified. One version of Luke 9:44 says this, “Listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you…” but another version says this, “Let these words sink into your ears…” Isn’t that a great picture? I picture a father holding his son’s face with both hands, making eye contact, and willing his son to understand. Translating the words in this verse from the Greek, it means this: “Establish a union to your faculty of perception.” This brings me to the name of my blog. Intertwined. If we could take what we currently know and perceive and intertwine it with the instructions from the Lord, we would have a tighter, stronger understanding. And remember that great extra trick to get your shoelaces to stay tied for a long time? Yep, pour a little water on them. It dries harder and tighter and there is no worry of those laces coming undone. Oh, if we would let the Spirit ‘water’ the truths from Scripture we listen to – we will have so much more understanding. A tighter, stronger faith. A faith that does not come easily undone.
And if you search Scriptures about listening, you will almost always find a correlation to obedience. There are a lot of ‘Listen AND”s. Listen AND follow. Listen AND obey. Listen AND heed my instruction. It’s one thing to listen. It’s a completion of the assignment to obey.
The consequences of disobedience are not good. Hence, the consequences of not listening are not good. “’ If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve.” Leviticus 26:21. The verse afterward is even more specific and severe. God is not kidding around. He commands obedience. And we obey those we love. It’s the easiest “If/Then” statement in Scripture to memorize: “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” John 14:15
So, it’s up to you each day. Do you love Him? Will you listen? Will you obey? And lest we go the way of finger-pointing and looking at everyone else’s disobedience, let me ask again; will YOU listen? Will YOU obey? Let’s start there today.
Tie those truths around your heartstrings and pour the water of the Holy Spirit over them so that nothing sways us from obeying God today.
“Whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.” Proverbs 1:33
**For more on listening, obedience, and learning wisdom – open to the book of Proverbs.
INTERTWINED 