Hearing is an important aspect of our spiritual lives. As followers of God we must position our heart to hear from heaven.
Samuel grew up in the temple. He learned to be a helper to Eli, the priest as a young boy. Eli taught Samuel the law of God. However, Samuel did not realize that hearing the voice of God could be a present experience.
A Speaking God
Samuel learned that God spoke, and the earth filled with God’s creation. God had walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening.
He learned of God speaking to Noah about the blueprints for the ark. Abram had been a friend of God who connected with God through conversations.
It was the voice of God that had spoke to Moses from the burning bush. God articulated the commandments on Mount Sinai.
Samuel’s historical heritage was filled with the reality of God speaking to individuals.
However, Samuel grew up during a time when the Word of God had become a custom of the past and not an encounter in the present. The people had turned their hearts away from God to go their own way. Though they continued a form of worship and could recite the commands of God they were no longer a people connected to God by their heartstrings.
The Israelites could quote the Shema. This was a pledge of allegiance to God. Within that pledge was a call to hear from God. However, it was no longer a pledge of love and commitment. The Israelites had reduced it to a cultural meme.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
It was into an environment of raucous rebellion and corruption that Samuel was born. Moreover, God’s voice was silent. In fact, the Israelite’s no longer listened for God’s voice. They relegated the voice of God to a tradition of the past.
God Still Speaks
It was as this small boy lay down to sleep one night that God broke Heaven’s silence and called out Samuel’s name.
When Samuel understood that God was calling him, he stilled and listened until the voice came again.
As the first syllable of his name sounded, Samuel’s heart leapt in love and obedience to God.
“Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.”
1 Samuel 3:9
How long has it been since you stilled and listened for God’s voice? Do you answer with an alacrity akin to Samuel’s?
Hearing plus Doing
Samuel was not only hearing what God was saying, he was also saying yes to the doing.
The word ‘heareth’ in Hebrew has a double meaning. ‘Shema,’ the Hebrew word for heareth is a joining of two actions. The actions of hearing and doing.
If we are hearing from God, but not putting into practice the doing then we are not biblically hearing.
When Samuel spoke to God, Samuel was letting God know that He was listening with an understanding which would produce action. In that moment, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) that had become an integral part of his vocabulary became a present experience to Samuel.
Samuel chose to pledge his allegiance to God by his actions in real time. It was like Samuel was saying:
“Yes, I hear. I obey. I love.”
How about you? How is your hearing?
Is your love for God decreasing to only lip service or is your love multiplying by active obedience to God’s commands? Have you added doing to your hearing?
When God made a covenant with the Israelites, He gave them a pledge to seal the agreement. God wanted action based on love. This pledge was called the Shema. It was no accident that this pledge started out with the Hebrew word ‘shema‘ as well as being named The Shema. At the time the Israelites understood the importance of combining hearing with doing.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
God is still speaking. He is calling us to hear Him. God continues to want a love backed by obedience from us who call ourselves Christians.
Learning to ‘Shema’
In fact, Jesus used the Shema in his teachings to reiterate the importance of this pledge given in the Old Testament (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:29-31). Moreover, Jesus pointed out that on the scale of loving God, hearing and obeying was the balance.
Love equals obedience in God’s mathematics. (John 14:21 & 23) We love God fully when we obey God fully.
When we willingly subtract obedience from our walk with God, our love for God is lacking.
Our answer to God when He speaks should be ‘I love you, therefore, I will obey you’. It is not to be ‘I’ll obey you because I have to.’
The sum of life with God is a love that adds obedience. When a person loves God with all his heart, then God’s commands are essential to all of life. That person that loves God wants to hear God’s voice and then show their love for God by their actions. It is only as we hear and do that we can say that we have learned to ‘shema.’
If your obedience to God’s commands has decreased, consider checking your hearing. Take steps to be like Samuel and add obeying to the hearing of God’s commands.
How is your score in God’s hearing test? Do you add doing to your hearing? Is your love for God exemplified by your obedience? Do you ‘shema’ when God speaks?
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