Listen to him!
“This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” (Mark 9:7b)
Did you ever stop to think about how many ways you are pulled in by “voices” that say “Listen to me!” in a single day? How many voices inside your home want you to listen to them? How many voices at work are trying to get your attention? And then, you have all of those other “voices” – those on TV, on your social media feeds, and in other places – inside your head.
So, how do you determine which voice or voices to listen to? Does it depend on where you are, how they speak, what role they play in your life, or some other factors? How do you assign value and rank to the voices you listen to, and in what order should you pay attention to them? I would imagine that the voices you trust and those that have proved to care for you receive the highest priority. Someone else saying to you “This is a voice you can trust, and you should listen to it” would likely have some weight in determining if you listen to that voice and follow that person’s advice.
The voice in the verse above should have the number-one place in our lives. It is God the Father telling us that Jesus is his Son and that we should listen to him. Now that might seem obvious. Maybe it even seems a little silly to think that God has to tell us to listen to our Savior.
But stop for a moment and look at your life. Does the “voice of God” always have the number-one place in your life? Do you always listen to him and let his word guide and direct your thoughts, words, and actions? Those questions are rather convicting, aren’t they? They show us how often we let the voice of our sinful nature overrule what we know God tells us and we should be doing. They show us how often we give greater weight and value to other “voices” around us and push God into the background.
It is our prayer that these devotions help to strengthen you in your faith and give you the determination and faith to desire and seek to make God number one in everything you do. When we do that, we hear God forgive us for all of the times that we have let other “voices” overrule his. When we listen to the voice of God in devotions, worship, and Bible reading, it give us peace and the strength to seek to live as his children in every area of our lives.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive me for the times that I have listened to other voices ahead of you and have let them lead me in a way that is sinful and not pleasing to you. Guide and strengthen me by your Word to give you the number-one place in my life and to think and act in ways that are pleasing to you. Let me gladly listen to and follow your Son, my Savior, allof the days of my life. Amen.