I was driving through a mountain range listening to worship music on the radio when it happened. I heard two radio stations at once on the same frequency! It was quite annoying as I couldn’t really hear either one very well.
What a great example of our need to fine tune our hearing. Scripture tells us that we’ll be blessed if we read it. In fact, I greatly encourage every believer to read through Scripture with the intent of simply hearing Jesus speak to them, not “getting” everything they read. We know the words of this Book come from the mind and heart of Jesus. They are His voice; thus, we can begin to know what His voice sounds like as we read.
Don’t stop there! Here is where the above illustration comes into play. We know our adversary sends false prophets who don’t look bad (those are easy to spot), but look and sound pretty close to Jesus. The Spirit knew this and had Paul write that we are to put the effort into (study) “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). We have to spend time studying the Bible in order to be able to discern between the two competing stations/voices.
Yes, it takes time, but it saves time as well. If you listen and follow the wrong voice, you’ll head down the wrong path. Then, once you listen and respond to the Spirit’s conviction (however long that may take), you’ll have take the time to confess, turn around, get back to your original spot and then start walking again. What a waste of time! A little time goes along way to saving lots of time simply by spending time studying The Book.
S“E”t Free Nowww