I’ve seen the meme several times on Facebook, but it cracks me up every time I see it. It says, “My wife asked me, are you listening to me?” and I thought, “That’s a strange way to start a conversation.” Let’s be honest guys, sometimes it is true of us, we aren’t the best listeners in the world. But this is more than just a problem with husbands not listening to their wives. It is the problem of humanity not listening to God. This isn’t new as we will see in Jeremiah today. Jeremiah 25:4 says, “And the Lord has sent to you all His servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear.”
God in His love and grace had sent many prophets before Jeremiah to warn both the northern kingdom, Israel; as well as, the southern kingdom of Judah. However, the warnings fell on deaf ears. The people only listened to those who told them what they wanted to hear, and now they were paying a price for it. This is something that we are seeing in our nation and in our world today as well. God in His love and grace has given us His word to read that we might know Him, and know His heart. However, we have turned from it in so many ways. I wish this was just a lost person’s problem, because then it would at least make sense. But this is true for many in the church as well. We have as Paul said in his letter to Timothy, “heaped up for ourselves teachers who tickle our ears.” We have turned from sound doctrine, and instead followed the wisdom of man. And now look at where we are. Many have wondered, is this what it is going to take to get our attention and turn our hearts back to God? I wish it would, but if I’m being honest, I don’t have much hope that it will. Why plea to my brothers and sisters in Christ is this, open your Bible, get alone with God, and allow Him to speak into our lives. Let Him define truth, and give us wisdom on where we should go and the things we should do. Will it be easy? Absolutely not, but it is necessary. My plea to my fellow pastors, don’t get pulled into the latest political debates or simply feeding the sheep warm and fuzzy messages. God has called us to be heralds of His word to His people. Yes, they need encouragement because the Christian life is difficult to live. But they also need exhortations to turn from sin, and avoid the dangers of sinful living in this world. We will not be popular when we preach counter-culturally, but I believe we are reaching an important crossroads. We will either preach to please the people, or we will preach to please the One who sought us, bought us, and called us. One decision will lead us closer to God and bring His blessings into our lives. The other will cause God to remove His hand from our preaching and ministries, and lead our people further from the gates of the kingdom of God and closer to the gates of hell. Let’s choose wisely!
By His grace and for His glory,
Pastor Justin