I believe it’s rare to find anything as intimate as hearing someone speak to you.
I am not talking about phone calls. Useful though they are. It’s being in the company of someone expressing their heart in the words they say.
Some experts suggest the actual words used are not as memorable as other communication elements such as tone of voice and non-verbal communication like body language. In my experience, though, heartfelt and heart expressed spoken words in themselves make a deep impact.
It’s why one of the most fascinating parts of the creation account in Genesis is the God who speaks. It’s truly awesome. Words pour forth from Him.
That He’s not a man that He should lie is also amazing, because that means what He says, is. He speaks, it is. He no speak, it no be. He speaks, it is. That is so brilliantly outlined in that account.
Idols are dumb. In both senses of the word. As inanimate, powerless created objects to ascribe to them awesome powers worthy of devotion is … not wise. They also say nothing (primarily because they hear nothing, because they are just objects).
The God of Creation is not dumb. He speaks. We are the result of Him speaking. Our very existence depends on the Speaking of God.
That is awesome.
Further still, as He speaks still, He invites us to listen to what He is saying. Unfortunately some expressions of religious life is more about what I am saying and what influential others are saying, rather than what He says. We pray, meaning getting what I want to say, then leave little to no room for what He has to say.
What makes this so tragic is that we miss out on so much because of the neglect on what He says.
The Luke account of the three temptations Jesus faced is interesting in that in responding to the devil in the first two temptations He refers to what is written, but for the third temptation He points to what God said. As if to suggest it’s not just about quoting what’s written – it’s about a relationship based on the Words from the God who speaks. An intimate relationship, listening to what He says, treasuring what He says and sharing what He says to strengthen our faith in Him.
It’s thus for those who follow what God has ultimately said in Jesus Christ to devote our entire being to listening to what He says. Not passively listening, but actively pursuing Him and His Word so as to be shaped and guided by it so we can reflect to the world the glorious results of life listening to the God who speaks.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
C. L. J. Dryden
Life With CD 