11 December 2016

Acts 13:16-25

Paul’s speech in Antioch to Israelites 

Listening is not as easy as one would think, at least not for me.  If I am not careful, I begin to form opinions about what I am hearing long before I hear the whole message.  Many times these opinions keep me from hearing the message as intended.

I was not raised in a religious family.  It was a wonderful family but my parents never went to church or discussed religious themes.  Occasionally, I would follow some girl to church but what I heard was guilt and threats of damnation.  I imagine now that if I had had some background in Christianity I might have listened to the sermon and heard something more appealing and relevant to a young man.

Paul delivered a message that was framed in a way that his hearers could understand the true meaning of what he had to tell them.  He started with a common theme and moved on to the “good news” of Jesus.  When I finally realized that there had to be more to life than financial success and accumulation of “stuff”, I was able to listen to the message and actually hear what the Gospel had to offer.  My Christian friends and teachers made that “good news” relevant to my situation and I began to listen and my life was changed.

As I have grown in my faith and am attempting to live in a way that reflects Jesus’s teaching, I find that I am better able to listen to God’s Holy Spirit when the Spirit makes me aware of an opportunity to “love my neighbor as myself”.  Listening and acting, of course, are two different things and therein lies the “challenge” in my life.