* Who are we listening to? Where do we get our understanding of life from? There are two very different stories. There's the world's story. It's the story of life without God. There's the Lord's Story. It's the Story of His salvation.
*Who are we listening to? We listen to what we want to hear. If we don't want to hear what God is saying to us, we will listen to the world's story. If, in our hearts, we know that there's more to life than what the world tells us, we will ask the question, "Is there a Word from the Lord?" (Jeremiah 37:17).
* Who are we listening to? Many people tell us that we must live in the here-and-now. They tell us to forget about the past - to forget about the God of the Bible. They say that God isn't relevant to today's world. When we listen to God's Word, are we losing ourselves in the past? or Are we hearing a message from the past, which is also a message for today? Are the Old Testament prophets and the New Testament apostles to be left in the past? Is Jesus Christ to be left in the past? These are real questions. They're not questions we can answer if we're not prepared to take time to read the Bible.
* Who are we listening to? Sometimes, we must listen to something we don't really want to hear. The world tells us, "Don't listen to all this talk about God?" We must, however, ask ourselves the question,
"How can we learn anything of any real value if we only listen to what we want to hear?" There may be something that we need to hear - but we're missing it because we're only listening to what we want to hear!
When we hear the old question, "Is there a Word from the Lord?", we must not be too quick to dismiss it - "That's not for us in today's world." It may be that God has something to say to us - but we'll only hear what He has to say if we're listening to Him.