Are you listening to God’s message to you? Don’t Ignore God when He’s talking to you.
Are You Ignoring God?
So often we may not want to hear what God is trying to tell us so we stick our fingers in our ears like a little kid and do the the whole “Lalalalalala” thing and don’t really listen to what he’s saying. We don’t want to hear what He has to say because we’re afraid of what He may ask us to do? Will He want me to give up something I love? Do something I don’t want to do? Go somewhere I don’t want to go? When we have this negative mindset, we miss out on so much! When God speaks to us, it’s because He wants to bless us!
What’s Your Attitude?
In chapter 7 of Zechariah, God gives the prophet a message in response to a question he’d been asked by the representatives of the people of Judah. They’d come asking if they should continue with a fast they’d been keeping for 70 years over the destruction of the temple. God’s response was “Was it really for me you’d been fasting or are you just doing it for yourselves like your ancestors did?”
God reminds them that years ago, before they were taken away in bondage, He’d warned the people of Israel to repent of their sin or there’d be consequences. You see, they’d been going through the motions but their attitudes were wrong. They’d lost their sincere desire for a relationship with God and just performed the rituals and ceremonies out of habit. They were merely doing it out of habit and tradition instead or for what they could get in return instead of worshiping God and seeking to draw closer to Him. He warned them that unless they came with a sincere attitude of repentence and worship then it meant nothing and there would be severe consequences.
Are We Listening?
Aren’t we guilty of doing the same thing today? Don’t we so often go to church out of habit? How often do we sing the songs and really allow the words to move our hearts? When we hear the message do we think it’s for someone else instead of asking God how we can apply it to our own lives? We perform the rituals without the worship.
God expects us to not just “hear” Him but to “listen” to Him. There’s a difference. When we merely hear someone, we don’t necessarily pay full attention. But, when we listen, we pay attention and take it all in. We try to understand what’s being said. And this is what God is talking about.
When we only hear and don’t listen, our hearts become hard which makes it easy to ignore the warning signs that are being put in front of us. When we ignore the warning signs, it usually leads to sin, which leads to consequences for our actions just like it did for the Israelites so long ago.
However, when we read God’s Word and apply it to our lives it softens our hearts and allows us to live as we should according to what we learn. When we spend time with Him by reading the Bible and taking time to pray, we are able to listen to God’s voice of instruction and learn to obey what He says. And then He is able to bless us!
But if we don’t…there are consequenses.
In verse 13 of this chapter God tells us that if we won’t listen to Him, He won’t listen to us!
That may sound harsh but here’s the thing…He gives us PLENTY of warning before He takes this stand! We have multiple opportunities to get it right! Yet, so many times we get mad at Him when in reality it’s our own faut.
Put What You Learn Into Action….Obey
So, let me ask you again…Are you listening to what God is trying to tell you? Are you doing what He’s telling you to do or not doing what He’s warning you not to do? We can’t expect God to listen to us when we aren’t willing to listen to Him. It’s just that simple. We have to be willing to not just read the Bible but do what it says. We can’t just go through life doing whatever we want and ignoring the warning signs He’s putting right in front of our face and expect our lives to be hunky dory. We have to do our part and be obedient. Otherwise we’re like that little kid with their fingers stuck in their ears not listening.
Friend, I hope this will help you today. Let me know if it does by leaving a comment. If you’d like to receive new posts right to your inbox, you can sign up for my mailing list. Have a blessed day and we’ll meet again soon.
Blessings,
Becky
