Have you experienced people not listening you? Have you told them something of importance and they pay no attention? Have you ever had someone say something to you and you did not listen? What were the repercussions for not listening? Were they significant?
We, as humans, often have a bad habit of not listening, especially if it is not the news we want to hear. Someone speaks a truth to us that we do not like, and we question them. We have done it to others. Others have done it to us. Yet, we know we should listen.
Parents can especially relate to having their children not listen to them. It seems as though from the time they are in their mid to late teens until they reach thirty years old, they go through a phase of thinking they know it all. That is when the parents realize what a pain they had been to their own parents and realize why they made some of the mistakes they made.
Jesus faced the Jewish leadership who were not listening to Him. Though He had not explicitly stated He was the Messiah, through His teachings, healings, and raising people from the dead, He had stated He was the Messiah. They simply did not want to nor were they listening. They certainly did not believe Him.
Perhaps we should evaluate how well we are listening to Jesus. We need to evaluate how well we are obeying Jesus. Otherwise, Jesus may say the same thing to us He said to the Jewish leadership. We need to realize that Jesus came to do the Father’s will and to testify about God’s plan for all of us. If we believe Jesus, we are His sheep.
I pray we all listen to Jesus. I pray obey Jesus. I pray each one of us will evaluate how well we listen and obey Jesus, choosing to follow Him and be one of His sheep. Listen to Jesus. Obey Jesus. Be a follower of Jesus. Be one of Jesus’ sheep.
John 10:24-26 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me, but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep.”
Marty Pressey 