“As for the word you spoke to us in the name of the Lord,                                                 we are not going to listen to you!”  Jeremiah 44:16

When you read through the Bible, you see evidence of the sinful state of our hearts. Time and time again, God says do this and we do not listen. If we did, our homes, businesses, churches, schools, government and our world would look very different. We think we know more than God, our Creator, and we go our own way. How do you think this is working for us?

When I ask my children to do something and they argue or disobey, it kinda shocks me. We have this loving relationship and usually they listen. The other day when I was asking our youngest to do something, disobedience followed. I took her aside and told her that when I asked her to do or not do something, it was because I had her good in mind. I was not trying to stop her from having fun or just being mean. I reminded her that I loved her and needed her to trust me. Then it hit me, again. We disobey and do not listen to God because we do not trust His love for us. If we did we would live like it.

His Word is full of instruction and beautiful stories of people who lived in obedience. They trusted in God’s power and love. They had faith in the One who has said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, the One who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8). They saw things that we can only imagine. Remember the parting to the Red Sea? Unbelievable! I want to hear all about that day. I want to learn from Moses, who led the people of Israel out of Egypt. He was given a promise, had a bit of a training time with tending sheep for his father-in-law, and actually heard the voice of God in the burning bush. These simple words astonish me. “So Moses thought, I must go over and look at this remarkable sight. Why isn’t this bush burning up? When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called out to him from the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ ‘Here I am,’ he answered.” (Exodus 3:3-4). I love his response.

The story continues and God gives the assignment of leading to Moses. He has a few questions for God. “Who am I that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). I hear God’s response to this understandable question echo to us even now. “So He said, ‘I will certainly be with you.” (Exodus 3:12). If God was with Moses, will He not be with us now? I know I am leaving much out of the story, but this is what is sticking out to me at the moment, the faith of Moses. He listened to God, even though what God was telling him sounded impossible.

I want to be like him. God may not be asking me to lead thousands of people, but He has entrusted me with 7. I want to read God’s Word and do what He says. I want to take seriously His commands and instructions. When He says, “It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only” (Luke 4:8), I actually want to do this every minute of my life. When I read, “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14), I want to live this way. Words have flown out of my mouth way to carelessly at times. The truth is, they reflected more of my heart than I care to admit. For this there is repentance on my part and forgiveness from God. For this too Christ died.

My encouragement to you today is to actually get in the Word of God for yourself. See how exciting this book is. Your life will be forever changed! Will hard things still come?Yes, we are not Home yet, but you will go through them differently with these life-giving words in you. Start in the book of John if you want and meet Jesus. Read through the Psalms and see if your heart doesn’t know exactly what the writers are talking about. Go to the book of James and gain wonderful instruction. Read in the very first book, Genesis, about how the earth was created. Want a beautiful story of loyalty, redemption and romance? Read the book of Ruth. Need a great adventure? Read the book of Jonah. The Bible is never boring. We have got to get back into scripture if we are to know truth for ourselves. I cannot wait to hear what you are reading and how it impacts your daily life!