Today's Devotional

March 18, 2005

Subject:  Hear And Heed Not Do And Deed

John 10:27 - "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."

In our small group bible study on last evening, we had an interesting discussion about how from time to time we need to stop and do introspection.  It turned into quite a discussion.  While in reality we were making many of the same points and while the actual disagreement was probably pretty small, there were some stark contrasts in how we thought we should go about accomplishing this thing called "introspection."  My viewpoint was clearly in the minority, but as Marines often do, I stubbornly held to my position.  I understood the majority opinion, which stated that we must check, recheck and double recheck to ensure that we are doing what God wants us to do.  I think that will happen naturally and should happen naturally, but only after you've gotten the spiritual part right first.  The first thing we need to do is open up the lines of communication and ensure that we can hear God's voice.  The second thing to do is to follow it.  Even when we do that, our natural man kicks in and we still question if we heard correctly.  That's why we need objective truth and that is God's word.  

When we hear His voice it is always, I repeat always, confirmed by His word.  Likewise if we want to know what God is saying to us, read His word and it will teach you how He speaks and enable you to recognize His voice.  I think that the Christian community has become a victim of the self-help society that we live in.  We actually believe that we can make ourselves better.  Oftentimes we simply apply rules on how to change our behavior.  That is not to be the case for the believer.  

Here is what the believer does.  He or she instills disciplines, a choice of your free will, that ensure unencumbered fellowship with the Father.  This way, he or she hears clearly the voice of God.  Those disciplines are bible study so that we may know Him, prayer, which can be one-way or two-way communication so that we may learn to hear His voice and fellowship so that we might understand God's purpose in the church body.  As we grow in Him, the believer then follows the direction outlined for him by the messages that he or she receives through the circumstances of life as they are all sifted through the spiritual filter of the disciplines we have established.   What else is there to do?  If you're unsure and you do anything other than open up the lines of communication to ensure that you're hearing God first, you're doomed to do the wrong thing.  

"His sheep" do two things.  (1) They hear His voice and (2) they follow Him.  

Carlen's quip: If at first you don't hear and heed, then surely you will do no good deed. 

  Carlen