Are you listening?

“But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, And will be secure, without fear of evil.” (Prov. 1:33 NKJV)

The above verse contains three wonderful promises! 1) you will dwell safely. 2) you will be secure. And, 3) you will be without fear of evil.

Like many promises in the Bible, this passage tells you exactly what to do to acquire what is promised, listen to God. This instruction to listen to God doesn’t seem like a difficult thing to do, but if that’s true, why aren’t we listening to Him? Let’s look at three reasons.

·      Some people CANNOT hear God

 There’s a Christmas carol that starts with the line, “Do you hear what I hear?” And that isn’t a bad question for someone to ask, because many cannot hear what God is saying to them because they don’t know Him and therefore are not of Him. They are not one of His sheep and not His followers.

“Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:47 ESV)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27 ESV)

·      Some people DO NOT want to hear God

“For this people's heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them.” (Matt. 13:15)

·      Some people are DULL of hearing

“you have become dull of hearing. (Heb. 5:11)

If you live next to a freeway, you will learn to ignore and not even hear the traffic noise.You can learn to tune it out mentally. It works the same way with people. Children tune out their parents, parents tune out their children, husbands and wives tune out each other, and they also tune out God!

“For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.” (Matt. 13:15 ESV)

What you MUST do

  • You MUST work at listening

You can hear sounds but not actually listen and responding to them. Hearing and listening are two different things. Hearing is about the ability to perceive the presence of sound. Listening is responding to it. 

“Making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;” (Prov. 2:2 ESV)

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen…" (James 1:19).

  • You MUST hear God’s Word to gain faith

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Rom. 10:17 ESV)

“Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,” (Prov. 1:5 ESV)

  • You MUST open the door!

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20 ESV)

“Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves in the sea. (Isa 48:18 NLT)

Mike Frenchbible promises, are you listening?