AM I LISTENING TO HIM?

We may easily look at the people of Judah and say to ourselves, “We would never be like that.” I wonder, though, if we also allow the devil to ease into our lives and blind our minds to the reality of God’s will. Satan can deceive us as easily as he did those people. In 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4, Paul said that “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The god of this world is Satan, the devil, the very same one who was at work in Judah at the time of Jeremiah. He convinced the people to go after the idols of that time until God eventually destroyed them. He blinds the minds of many in our world today from seeing the light of the glorious gospel of Christ. The sad result is that they never come to believe in the good news of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. Even some who believe in Christ never reach the point of turning from their sins in repentance and being baptized to have their sins washed away.

Satan does not care how many truths people believe, as long as they do not believe the good news which is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Because of the devil’s work, even the church of the Lord is often diverted from the primary focus to which God has called it. The preaching and teaching of the truth can become secondary to all kinds of good causes. Every time such a shifting of priorities occurs, the demons must laugh loudly in hell. When Satan blinds our eyes, we may see many things, but we miss what we most need to see. Do you wonder how people can live in immorality day after day until it does not bother them anymore? Satan has a tremendous power to blind our eyes to what he does not want us to see. We may see others’ sins and become so angry that they are such horrible hypocrites, yet our own sins seem insignificant to us. A businessman may be cheating others— even his own workers—yet never consider that anything is wrong with his actions. Satan so blinds our minds to personal sins that when someone calls our attention to them, we immediately think, “There is really nothing wrong with that” or try to justify our actions.

When Jesus told the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:3–9, He described four kinds of soils which represented four kinds of hearts. How people react to the Word of God is determined by the kind of hearts they have. After Jesus told the parable, His apostles questioned Him about why He spoke in parables. Jesus said they did not understand because they had closed their eyes. They had shut their ears. Their hearts had been covered. (Matthew 13:13–15). Many times when we have difficulty getting people to understand the message of the Lord, it is not because the Word is difficult to understand. Rather, it is because the people will not listen or because they have their minds and hearts so covered with the sins and concerns of this world that the message of God does not get through to them. God is still speaking to us today. The question for each of us to ask ourselves is “Am I listening to Him?” How many times have we closed our ears to His truth and sought other ways of solving our problems? If we want to follow God, we must be willing to follow Him all the way. His ways are forever right.

Word Affirmation: “ Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!" - Number 23:23 (Don't just say it, mean it!)

“ Satan does not care how many truths people believe, as long as they do not believe the good news which is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” "

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