Listening to God

Read:
Jeremiah 13:1-11
Deuteronomy 32:18-21
Matthew 13:31-35

We are to build our house on the Rock that is Christ. This means we listen to and act on Jesus’ words. Not to do so will not enable our house to withstand the buffeting of winds
and floods, and our house will eventually collapse. This is what happened to Judah.

Jeremiah described Judah as “this wicked people who refuse to obey my words” (Jeremiah 13:10a). God gave them His commands, but they did not heed His words. They became a people “who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and follow other gods, serving and worshiping them” (Jer 13:10b).  This is how people, including Christians and Christian nations, are today.

• They follow other gods. These are the gods of materialism, secularism, sexual liberation, modernism.
• They serve and worship these gods. Their lives revolve around the pleasures offered to them by these isms. They are dominated by these gods. The ultimate ism is Satanism, where people actually worship Satan, the very antithesis of God. The ultimate offering to Satan is abortion, which is so widespread in the world, and being touted as a human right, and even a sacrament.
• They are stubborn in their evil ways. They reject the word of God. They do not want to repent. Even given the misery wrought in their lives, they still persist in
  doing evil.

How ironic it was for Israel. God Himself made them a people special to Him. As Moses said, “You were unmindful of the Rock that begot you, you forgot the God who gave you birth.” (Dt 32:18). They were already founded on the Rock, but collapsed as a nation because they were unmindful and even forgot the God who called them to Himself. How tragic. How senseless.

God will not be provoked or mocked. God pours out bountiful blessings upon His people, but God also punishes His people for not obeying His commands and turning away from Him. Israel sacrificed to demons. They not only turned away from God, but turned totally around in whom they worshiped. “The Lord saw and was filled with loathing, provoked by his sons and daughters.” (Dt 32:19). Since Israel rejected God, they were left to their own devices. “He said, I will hide my face from them, and see what becomes of them. For they are a fickle generation, children with no loyalty in them!” (Dt 32:20). Left to themselves and their false gods, their house quickly collapsed.

How foolish they were. They were built on the Rock to last. But they chose to build on sand. God abandoned them to their idiocy and folly. “Since they have incited me with a ‘no-god,’ and provoked me with their empty idols, I will incite them with a ‘no-people’; with a foolish nation I will provoke them.” (Dt 32:21).
Christians were once no people, but they have become God’s people. 1  But today, Christians are turning away from God, and embracing idols. They are poised to become, once again, a “no-people.” This is why many tragedies continue to assault the world. This is why many Christian nations are experiencing decline and a weakening of the faith.

Jesus came into the world, and sought to redeem God’s people. He taught them about the kingdom of God. He likened the Kingdom to a mustard seed, which starts out small but grows into the largest of plants (Mt 13:31-32). He likened the Kingdom to yeast, which leavens the very large dough (Mt 13:33), which is able to feed a hundred people. 2  The Kingdom of God provides food for people; the Kingdom of God as a large bush provides shelter to people.

Jesus announced “what had been hidden from the foundation of the world.” (Mt 13:35c). In Jesus’ words were an understanding of the Kingdom and the way to the Kingdom. He proclaimed the mysteries of the Kingdom in all its glory. Unfortunately, people have not understood what Jesus has taught, as “all these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables.” (Mt 13:34a). They saw only the surface meaning of what Jesus was telling them, but failed to enter more deeply into the mysteries of the Kingdom of God.

Today Jesus still speaks to us. Today God has given us knowledge of the Kingdom, and what is required of us as God’s people. We must listen to and act on Jesus’ words, so that we can be built on Rock. We must not be foolish but be wise. We must not be proud but be humble. Otherwise, “thus says the Lord: So also I will allow the pride of Judah to rot, the great pride of Jerusalem.” (Jer 13:9).

Who are these who are proud today? God identifies them as “this wicked people who refuse to obey my words” (Jer 13:10a). Not obeying, people then have houses built on sand. They, like Jeremiah’s rotted loincloth, are “good for nothing.” (Jer 13:10c). God has a wonderful plan, future and destiny for His people. “For, as the loincloth clings to a man’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me—oracle of the Lord—to be my people, my fame, my praise, my glory.” (Jer 13:11a). What a wonderful place God has for His people.

Our house can either stand or collapse. But we need to listen to and act on Jesus’ words, so as to be built on the Rock that is Christ. Let these tragic words not be said of us: “But they did not listen.” (Jer 13:11b).