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\u201cTherefore Eli said to Samuel, \u2018Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, \u201cSpeak, Lord, for Your servant hears.\u201d\u2018 So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, \u2018Samuel! Samuel!\u2019 And Samuel answered, \u2018Speak, for Your servant hears’\u201d (1 Samuel 3:9,10).<\/p>\n
AS WE SEEK GOD, WE MUST KEEP OURSELVES OPEN TO HIS WORD. Like rich, fertile soil ready to receive the sower\u2019s seed, our hearts must be receptive to the word which God intends to plant there. Although marvelous good things can come from God\u2019s word in our hearts, this word can\u2019t even take root in our hearts if they are hardened or unhearing. We must be ready to listen.<\/p>\n
To be ready to listen means that we\u2019re ready to receive whatever God wishes to say. Yet our hearing is often hindered by presupposition and prejudice. We already have fixed ideas about what God \u201cmust\u201d say, and there are limits to what we\u2019ll listen to, even from God. But if we limit ourselves to what we want<\/em> to hear, not many of us will hear what we need<\/em> to hear. It is critically important that we move past our personal preferences and allow God to say to us whatever He wills. After all, a servant is in no position to dictate to his master what instructions the master is allowed to give. As those who would serve God, we have not been asked to serve in an \u201cadvisory capacity.\u201d It is our role (and our high privilege) to wait upon His word and do His bidding, whatever that might be. \u201cSpeak, Lord, for Your servant hears.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The gift of language has been vouchsafed to us by God. But the gift was not given just so that we might speak; it was given that we might hear<\/em> when our God speaks to us. Great issues hinge upon our choice in this matter. Readiness to listen is no accident of personality, randomly possessed by some people and not by others. It is a deliberate decision we make to open ourselves to God\u2019s word. James encouraged us to do this: \u201cReceive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves\u201d (James 1:21,22). If we can honestly say what Samuel said, \u201cSpeak, Lord, for Your servant hears,\u201d then we have a maturity that can take us toward an even greater maturity in the things of God.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the highest and noblest functions of man\u2019s mind is to listen to God\u2019s Word, and so to read his mind and think his thoughts after him\u201d (John R. W. Stott).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n