LISTEN AND OBEY

James 1:22 And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself.

It is good to listen to the Word of God; it is far better to listen to it and obey it. We tend to be good listeners, but poor when it comes to obeying it. We give mental agreement to what we hear and we may even say "Amen" to it, but if we don’t obey it, it is a waste of our time. Think about it for a moment. When was the last time you heard something in a message that was a life-changer for you?

We gather together to study the Bible. We gather together in worship where the Word is proclaimed. We enjoy the time spent in the Word, but it hasn’t any real impact on the way we live and think. We take great delight in listening to dynamic speakers proclaim the Word. However, if we don’t apply the things we learn and know, we are only fooling ourselves. Hearing from God is more than a spiritual duty we perform; it is a life-changing event. We won’t hear life-changing messages all the time, but we will hear them often enough to change our behavior and thought lives.

If you never hear anything that really makes a difference in your life, then a couple of things need to happen. You need to first examine your heart and seek to discover what is keeping you from hearing from God. Is there sin plugging up your ears so you can’t hear? If so, you need to repent of it so you can once again hear the voice of God.

If you can’t hear from God because he who speaks never speaks clearly from God, then either get rid of the speaker or go somewhere else where God is clearly speaking. Hearing from God is too important of a matter to not be in a position where you can hear what He has to say.

You will not hear from God if you are not into His Word where He clearly speaks. Daily you need to be in the Word with the expectation that God will speak to you. God cannot get through to you if your heart is not open to life-changing messages.