Why would we not Listen?

Isaiah 28:23-29

As one who is identifying with Jesus Christ, what will you do when He speaks to you and the message is “Listen and hear my voice?  Pay attention and hear what I say.”  Why would we not listen and pay attention and hear what the One who Created us and all that is, the One who stepped out of heaven and took on flesh to buy us out of the control of sin, why would He not have our ear at all times?

Now, if you’re a follower of Christ, or if you believe as I did for most of 27 years that Jesus was God.  He came to earth by an act of the Holy Spirit giving a virgin named Mary the ability to conceive and carry a baby.  The angel Gabriel told her to name him Jesus, for He would be the Savior of His people, the Messiah revealed to the prophets.  If that is all you believe, you may have stronger faith than the twelve who later became apostles.  So why do we not listen, and when we listen, why do we not hear what Jesus is telling us?

I listen to many great preachers and speakers and some have blamed it on noise, and I’ve noticed that we as a people like noise; we get into a quiet car, and the first thing we do is turn on the noise, we call it radio, or music, but it breaks the quiet.  When we walk into our house and it’s quiet, we seem to find the TV, the DVD, or the stereo to block out the quiet.  Yes, noise is a player in not hearing the voice of God, but it is not the root problem. 

My friend Carroll Ray Jr. would often tell me how we have these filters, he referred to them as preacher filters, and when the word of God is preached a voice inside of us tells us, that is what preachers are suppose to say.  I believe we will find truth in Carroll’s word, and my pastor Ray Still has said, at the door leaving the church building there is an invisible eraser which removes all the application of God’s word from most of us, and yet once more that is not the root problem.

My mentor, Ken Ryan would often ask of me, “Bob do you believe what we just read in the Bible” and my reply was always the same, yes, one hundred percent.  And his reply was always the same, “Bob that is not true, for if you believed you would do all God’s word tells you to do.”  I believe, my mentor hit it on the head the root cause is unbelief.

In these verses listed above, Isaiah is using an analogy between the farmer’s task and God’s treatment of Judah.  The farmer does not always use the same methods, for different seeds require different actions.  Isaiah is telling us about a wise farmer who listens to God, and in doing so he prospers.  As one who was a teacher, it would often be said by a student; that does not seem fair, and often such a reply is about God’s mercy, such as the story Jesus told about the people who worked only the last hour of the day but were paid the same as those who worked all day in the field.  God’s mercy and judgment are beyond our understanding; it’s much like each plant has its proper treatment, after the soil is made ready.  A wise person will not waste time on how God is dealing with others, but will; “Pay attention and hear what I say.” 

My prayer is that you and I grasp the last part of Isaiah 28:29, “This also comes from the Lord of Hosts.  He gives wonderful advice; He gives great wisdom.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice