I Want You To Listen!

“Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech.”

Isaiah 28:23 ESV

My three-year-old grandson seems to have carried some of his “terrible twos” habits into another year.

When things aren’t going his way, he throws a little fit.

Any adult trying to reason with him is quickly told, “Don’t talk to me!” (Believe me, his parents are working on this!)

Such a thing happened when he was with me recently, and no amount of explaining would make him happy.

Finally, he looked at me and said, “Don’t talk to me!”

I replied while walking away, “Okay, but if I can’t talk to you, then you can’t talk to me either.”

He quickly followed me into the next room and began to try to tell me something. I held up my hand and said, “I can’t hear you. Don’t talk to me.”

He tried again…and again I replied, “I can’t hear you.”

We batted this way, back and forth, for half a dozen times.

Finally, he got right in my face and said, “Bobbee, I don’t want you to talk to me but I DO want you to listen!”

And that, my friends, describes the relationship most people have with God. We don’t talk WITH Him. We talk TO Him….and we really don’t want Him talking to us!

The Bible is full of examples of people who refused to listen to God.

Take Jonah, for instance.

It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to know this story. He refused to listen and wound up in the belly of a large fish for three days.

Samson heard God’s word, but didn’t listen.

He allowed his carnal self to drown out God’s voice…..and he paid with his life.

The rich young ruler asked the most important question in life. When he heard the answer, he turned his back and walked away…thus saying to Jesus: DON’T TALK TO ME.

The list goes on and on and on and includes people like you and me.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28 ESV)

What a promise! We hear His voice and he knows us. He KNOWS us. And He give us eternal life. We are so blessed!

Guest devotion Cheryl Jones. Cheryl grew up as a PK (preacher’s kid) and has been a teacher for 32 years. She is married and has three children and six grandchildren. She lives in Monroe, LA. Learn how you can become a guest writer.