Everywhere you turn there is the drum beat of matters that concerns itself with earthly things. You spend most of your day thinking and talking about topics that are temporal. If you are married, the bulk of your time is spent in communication with your spouse or doing what concerns them. If you are single, you spend a lot of time trying to fill your schedule with activities or events to keep you from feeling lonely.
A. Torrey was a pastor of time past who was greatly used of God. In thinking about the theology of Dwight L. Moody, also a great pastor used of God, he said this: “Mr. [D. L.] Moody used to say, ‘in our prayers we talk with God, in our Bible Study, God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.’ We certainly ought to spend more time every day listening to what God has to say to us in His Word than we require Him to spend in listening to what we have to say to Him in our prayers.” Now, that certainly makes a whole lot of sense. To combat those spiritual battles you face daily in your life, knowing what the Lord tells you about how to have victory over them, is much more important than asking the Lord for this thing or that.
Jesus is about to choose His twelve apostles. Before doing this, He spends time teaching the Word of God. His actions are seen in Luke 4:44 and 5:1, “So He kept on preaching in the synagogues. Now, it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God.” Jesus was teaching with such a relevant and pertinent message that he crowds pressed Him closer and closer as they were “listening” to Him. They did not speak but only Listened.
Maybe, it is time for you to change your walk with Jesus. Just maybe, it is time to spend more of your day letting Jesus talk to you through the Word of God, than telling Jesus your concerns. The world beckons that you listen to its worldly chatter; combat that with studying the Word more.
Thank you so much for this. I needed this reminder.