The Culture of Noise

Hebrews 3:7-11

We are living in the culture of noise; it matters not where it is, meaningless data, or just racket, coming from the radio, TV, or any of the other noisemakers.  We often lie to ourselves about desiring quiet, but give us a moment of silence, and we will find a way to quickly fill that space with sound, of some kind.  So that being true, how do we engage conversation with God, who seems to speak in those times of silence?

Verse seven begins in this manner; “Therefore, (anytime therefore is used in Scripture it is important to look at the verses that came before the therefore) as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put me to the test and saw my works for forty years.  Therefore I was provoked with that generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart; they have not known my ways.’  As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest.” (Hebrews 3:7-11)  So what came before the therefore; we who are in Christ are His house, it is the exchanged life, Christ now lives in us, and we now live in Christ. 

What kind of house, have you welcomed our Lord into?  Is your house so filled with stuff, so filled with activity that it is impossible to hear his voice?  If that describes your life, you have been deceived, you are being misled and do not understand that the Holy Spirit was sent to guide us into all truth, to be our teacher, to be our comforter.  If we understand that truth, but keep choosing to fill our schedule with activity and noise, are we any different than those in the time of Moses who hardened their hearts and rebelled?

Galatians 2:20 holds so many keys to opening our hearts and minds to the exchanged life, you have been crucified with Christ.  “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” If you have come to understand this great truth and yet live life as if it was your business to schedule the events of life with no regards for hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit, are you living in rebellion?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice