"Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David." Isaiah 55:3 (NLT)
Key Thought: The problem isn't that God is failing to speak to me but rather that I choose not to listen.
It probably would have sounded more catchy to say that "The problem isn't that God is failing to speak to me but rather that I am failing to listen." But if I'm going to be honest it's not that I am failing to listen it is that I am truly choosing to not listen. You cannot fail or even succeed when you won't even try!
When I look at vs. 3 I see it in two parts ... my part (what the Lord requires of me) and the Lord's part (what He promises to do).
My part ... He promises that if I:
1) Come to Him - I have to seek Him. I have to humble myself & admit my dependence on Him.
2) With my ears WIDE open - I have to get myself out of the way. I have to set aside the "stuff" in my life; put aside the distractions & open my heart, mind & even my hands to Him.
3) Listen - I don't really struggle with 1 & 2 nearly as much as I do with this one ... especially if what He says does not line up with my plan. I have to listen, take it in, soak it up and then respond to what He is calling me too.
His Part:
When I am faithful to do all 3 that is when "I will find life." John 10:10 says, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."
Only God Almighty knows what that earthly life will be for me but I know what my eternal life will be about ... that I can know! And that's part of what He promised to David. 2 Samuel 7:15-16 says, "But my favor will not be taken from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from your sight. Your house and your kingdom will continue before me for all time, and your throne will be secure forever." The Lord promised David that He would preserve his throne ... David's family line would continue. Unlike Saul's. And the Lord fulfilled that promise through Jesus Christ by establishing an eternal lineage.
Think about that ... God did that for an adulterer. A murderer. A deceitful man. Was he any better than Saul? No. David couldn't believe it either, "Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed, “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And now, Sovereign Lord, in addition to everything else, you speak of giving your servant a lasting dynasty! Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign Lord? “What more can I say to you? You know what your servant is really like, Sovereign Lord." (2 Samuel 7:18-20) The difference is that David had been truly repentant and sought to live for the Lord. If God is willing to offer that type of legacy to David then why wouldn't He be willing to offer the same to you? Are your sins more special than David's?
No! Get over yourself. Get rid of that prideful attitude and false humility that you are holding on to so tightly. Jesus Christ spilled His precious blood for our ugly, despicable sin ... the very least we can do is admit & receive the fact that one drop of that blood was enough to cover our sins. It was enough! More than enough. Some like to think their sins are worth several vials of His blood but let's be honest for a minute ... He is perfect, pure and holy ... if He had sneezed His blood then the mist would more than cover it. I'm not trying to sound or even be disrespectful about the death of Jesus Christ but rather point out that our sin is not greater than the blood of Jesus. IT. IS. NOT. GREATER. THAN. THE. BLOOD. OF. JESUS. It will never be! So no matter what you have done in the past or are doing right now the Lord is offering you forgiveness if you will truly repent. And the good news is that He is still offering it to His children who have wandered away for a while. So will you come to Him with open ears and listen?!
While I may be waiting for some things to be established here in my earthly life I will rest in the knowledge that the hope and promise of my eternal life has already been sealed thanks to Jesus Christ, the cross the empty tomb and a repentant heart asking Jesus to be the Lord of my life one summer night in August of 1993. Until that time comes and I do sincerely hope that it will be a while yet, I will continue to come to Him with an open spirit, truly listen and receive His promises.
I love you all!
Blessings ...
- Melody Faith
No comments:
Post a Comment