Are You Listening?

Are You Listening?

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse, because it is built on bedrock. But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

Matthew 7:24-27

If you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

James 1:25

Is the television turned on at your house sometimes when no one is watching? You can hear it, but you’re not really listening to it. It is one thing to hear someone talking. It is another thing to listen. And it is still another thing to understand and accept what is being said.

When Jesus sat in the Temple teaching or on the hillside speaking, the people were amazed because, as Matthew recorded, “he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law” (Matthew 7:29).

But we can be amazed at what someone says and still reject it or ignore it. We can see that someone speaks with authority and still refuse to submit to it. So it is a worthwhile question to ask ourselves, Am I listening to what God is saying to me through his commandments in the Bible? Am I taking seriously what Jesus taught with his words and with his life and in his death and resurrection?

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What actions do you take when you want to listen to someone?

What is the evidence that a person is truly listening to God?

Is there something you’ve heard God say that you find difficult to accept or obey?