Caribbean Moravian Devotions

A few years ago I taught music at the high school level. Let’s just say that experience taught me some very valuable lessons that will stay with me for a very long time. I came to realize that teaching in the classroom required repeating yourself almost to the point where you wondered if something was wrong with you. Imagine giving a class some instructions to follow, only to have a student who is sitting a few feet right in front of you look at you with that blank quizzical expression asking what are they supposed to do. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wondered if my “teaching” voice was not strong enough. But even after making a greater effort to project my voice more I can’t say that the problem was solved. For only a few minutes later, another student would be asking the exact same question. Like so many other teachers who stand in classrooms at all levels, I came to conclusion that not because children can HEAR you means that they necessarily LISTEN to you. But I believe that this is true not only of children but even adults. And so as we get this New Year going, our FF for today calls us all to DON’T JUST HEAR, LISTEN!

HEARING and LISTENING may be cousins but often times we mistake them for identical twins. But they are not! We HEAR with my ears. But we LISTEN with our hearts. We may HEAR information. But when we LISTEN we are doing more and trying to digest and make sense of the information we have received. We HEAR a sermon being preached. But it is when we choose to LISTEN to GodÂ’s voice through the sermon that the Holy Spirit prompts us to respond. HEARING can be said to be passive, meaning that we are dormant. But LISTENING on the other hand is active. It is engaging with what someone has said and allowing their words to move us. But whereas we HEAR only with our ears, we LISTEN with more than our ears. When we LISTEN itÂ’s as if our whole being becomes open and receptive. We donÂ’t have much choice about HEARING once our ears are working the way they should. But even with well working ears, we can certainly choose not to LISTEN.

So then because to HEAR is not the same as to LISTEN, we would do well in 2014 to go beyond JUST HEARING and instead be more intentional in LISTENING. So DONÂ’T JUST HEAR what your spouse or loved ones have to say to you, LISTEN! DONÂ’T JUST HEAR what your children are saying to you, LISTEN! Most importantly, DONÂ’T JUST HEAR what God may be saying to you, LISTEN! It is when we do more than HEAR and decide to LISTEN that we open ourselves for God to reveal to us the path we ought to take that has already been destined for us. It is when we decide to LISTEN and not just HEAR that we receive GodÂ’s full instruction so that not only do we know what to do, but also when and how. The season of Epiphany reminds us that though the wise men HEARD HerodÂ’s request to bring back to him news about where Christ was they LISTENED to God and knew not to return to Herod.

Many may be our plans for 2014. In our planning and pursuing of our dreams and goals, we may HEAR the voice of many wise counsellors. But with all that we may HEAR, I urge us to DONÂ’T JUST HEAR, LISTEN. Yes, LISTEN intently to the wisdom of others! But most importantly, make every effort this year to LISTEN more attentively to the voice of God. Remember, DONÂ’T JUST HEAR, LISTEN!

Mikie Roberts (Rev)
HereÂ’s the link for the blog. Join in the discussions.
http://moravians.net/serendipity/index.php?/categories/1-Friday-Focus