Often times, we hear parents complaining about their children’s lack of listening. The children clearly heard what they were told to do but they have failed to act upon it.  A lot of us have a resembling relationship with God as these kids do with their parents. By definition, hearing is to perceive or to receive whereas listening means to obey.

God speaks to us in ways we acknowledge His voice and it is individual. For some, it could be through His Word, conviction, and for others, it may be through dreams, visions or simply His voice. Hearers can be divided into two groups as being: those who hear God and disobey and those who hear and obey in their timing. God is a God of purpose. Therefore, every word He speaks and every move He makes serves a purpose. God speaks with the intention of being heard; once heard He expects to be obeyed. As the scriptures state, the sheep’s hear the voice of their shepherd, Jesus and they LISTEN (follow His voice); putting His INSTRUCTIONS into ACTIONS. Familiarity with the voice of God is developed through an intimate relationship with Him.

Hearing God but failing to listen to Him is a direct intentional disobeidience.

The accountability that comes along hearing God makes our sin (disobedience) intentional. Listeners reflect the love, honour, reverent fear and trust they have in God. Have you realised, you often listen to the friend, sibling or that one person who you believe has the best in mind for you and you have absolute trust in their advice. We LIVE our LOVE for God and it is called OBEDIENCE, John 14:23. Jesus said, “anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me.” Our response to the voice of the Lord speaks volumes of our love for Him. We honour Him as our king when we walk as He directs. Honestly speaking, ignoring God and His convictions becomes challenging as we enter into a deeper intimacy with Him. The reason being us getting to know a lot more of the heart of God and becoming one with Him over time. It hurts your heart to fail to do what He told you to do as a result of the reverent fear and love you have developed for Him. For the procrastinators who choose to obey God in their timing instead of His, be aware delayed obedience is still a disobedience. 

Obedience is a form of godliness and it’s ought to be part of our character as children of God in Christ Jesus.

“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” – 1 Timothy 4:8 Just the way we train our flesh for physical fitness is the way we train our spirit man to walk in obedience to God. As our physical bodies adapt to the ways we train it to live, so do our spiritual bodies. Our personal transformation is in correlation to our obedience. God often encourages our spirit to tackle tasks that will challenge our hearts and character; as He intends to daily develop us into the FULL image of Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning our constant transformation is highly unlikely to occur without us not just seeking but WALKING in the perfect will of God for our lives. If we fail to develop the habit of obeying our Father, at some point, continuing to walk in disobedience will form part of our character creating a comfort zone for us to live in, blinding us from the long-term consequences it will bring forth.

Great will our fall be when we find comfort in sitting on everything God instructs us to do.

When asking to hear the voice of God, we must prepare to obey despite the difficulty of the assignment. A lot of us are eager to hear God speak and to know His perfect will for our lives, however, we are not in a position to obey Him. God is searching for LISTENERS not HEARERS who sit on everything He tells them to do. Jesus, our greatest example, made His entire life all about His Father in obedience. And He has set the standard in which He expects His sheep’s’ to live in. Remaining a hearer will diminish our spiritual growth and limit our fruitfulness. Our harvest is multiplied as we learn to obey Him in the little things first. We may not know what is on the other side of our obedience, but we do know one truth, the harvest is always much greater than the cost of our obedience.

What has God been convicting you about lately that you are struggling to obey? Beloved, if the reason why you are failing to obey Him is because of fear of the cost of your obedience, remind yourself that God has not given you a spirit of fear but of power (2 Timothy 1:7). The enemy gave you that fear and you submitted to it instead of your faith in Jesus. Jesus knew the price of His obedience beforehand but He chose to trust in the spirit of power His Father had given Him in order for Him to live His love for His Father. The moment Jesus completed His obedience by giving up His life was the same moment He gained us the power and strength in which we are able to act upon what God convicts us to do. If you are not obeying as a result of doubt, questioning the voice of God, have you been pursuing Him lately? Doubt usually occurs when we have pulled ourselves away from God. The closer we draw to God, the clearer His voice becomes. “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” – James 4:8 NLT  

REMEMBER: Obedience doesn’t only bring honour, pleasure & glory to God but it will also save our lives. 

God Loves You, Always & Forever!