Listen Up

"Today, if only you would hear his voice,
“Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray,
and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Psalm 95: 7-11

My son is studying French right now in school. I always kind of liked French when I was in school, so as I was helping him study his verbs for an upcoming test last night, I was secretly delighting in what little knowledge of the language I have retained. One of the verbs he is learning is the verb "ecouter." This verb gave me pause of thought, because I could not remember if it meant "to listen" or "to hear." The verb "entendre" was the French verb for the other one. Now, you may think to yourself, what's the big deal - "to listen" and "to hear" are essentially the same action...Well, not really (at least in the French language.

I was reminded by my son that ecouter means to listen, and entendre means to hear. To hear (entendre) means to audibly take note of a sound - for an example - I hear thunder of in the distance, or, I hear a baby crying. It is plain and simple, sensing a sound. To listen (ecouter) is a much deeper and more intimate action - it means to not only to hear a sound, but also to engage in communication with the sound. For example - I listened very carefully to the game instructions, or I am listening to the weather forecast. With listening or ecouter, there is a level of interaction with the noise.

Sometimes parents wonder if their kids simply hear their voice (kind of like the brass horn vibrato of the adults in Charlie Brown), but don't really listen to what they have said, when the kids once again disobey. It's one thing to hear a sound, it's another altogether to engage and respond to it.

Are you a listener or a hearer of God? God wants us to listen to Him, and not to simply hear Him.

God says in Psalm 95, "Today, if only you would hear His voice, do not harden your hearts."

God is speaking to us all the time - primarily through His Word, the Bible. Many of us hear the Word of God for our lives - whether in church, through personal reading, or sometimes even songs. We have heard it well enough over the years to recognize it, and to easily identify its content. For many, His voice is a distinct sound - we know what He is calling us to do and to be. The sound of His voice carries with it a call to obedience.

The reality is that until we obey the voice of God and live it out in our life - we will only ever be hearers of God. To listen to God is to obey God - to do that which He asks us to do. We must not harden our hearts - or as I like to put it - tune God out (or relegate His voice to background noise in our life). His voice demands preeminence and our obedient response.

Lord God, teach me how to be a better listener to your voice...

Be God's, Scott