Hearing His Voice #52

You must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.

Deuteronomy 6:6

The Bible has often been described as an instruction manual for life, as if we are simply to read the Word and follow the directions. And for many, this approach is the beginning and end of God’s voice to them. God has given His commands, and we are to follow them. We read, and then we do. It’s like assembling a piece of furniture; the instructions are printed on a page, and we follow them step by step. That’s how it’s supposed to work—if the Bible is only an instruction manual.

The problem with that perspective is that God is intensely relational, and instruction manuals aren’t. God never intended for His voice to be reduced to a reading list or a long-distance letter or a business plan. Though we certainly receive His instructions through His Word, we also receive them through our hearts during the night (see Psalm 16:7), through a voice speaking into our ears (see Isaiah 30:21), and many other ways. And though part of our relationship with God is instructional, most of it goes much deeper. It isn’t enough to merely follow instructions; our hearts have to be engaged (see Deuteronomy 28:47-48; Matthew 15:8). Jesus made it very clear that it’s possible to know the Word thoroughly yet not know God. (In John 5:37-39, He tells the religious leaders, who knew Scripture quite well, that they had never heard God’s voice.) Reading His Word and hearing His voice are not necessarily the same thing.

Let Scripture be your entryway into a conversation with God, not the sum total of your communication. Hear His instructions, but let your relationship with Him go much deeper than that. Never let the Bible be reduced to a spiritual to-do list. Let it launch you into God’s presence.

Lord, I understand that reading the Word and hearing Your voice are not the same thing. Please help me to hear Your voice in the Word and to use Scripture as the beginning of a conversation with You, rather than as the conversation itself.