Proverbs 5:7 and now, O sons, listen to me and do not depart from the words of my mouth
I was helping with a school play over the summer holidays. The group were travelling around the villages and towns for two weeks, ending up in the city for 4 nights.
My role was to load the scenery and props into the van each night, leave early in the morning (4 am) and set off for the next village. Once there I would unload the van, set up the stage for rehearsals, organise the accommodation and food arrangements for the forty children and staff involved in the play. During the play, I went on the stage as an extra in a few scenes (I had one funny line and each night it got a laugh). I also did all the scene changes. I would catch up with my sleep during the day when the children were getting fed or rehearsing their songs.
My role was to also make sure the children were safe, to arrange for them to get to where they were being fed and also accommodation.
I had to instruct them, and for them to trust me I needed to build trust with them. I am sure you the reader can imagine the challenges of ferrying a large group of teenagers around for a few weeks.
There were times when they would not listen to my instructions, not many. It was frustrating because I knew what was best for them in these situations.
We made it safely through the few weeks, and I still remember them getting a five-minute standing ovation in a packed theatre on the last night. Beautiful.
KNOWLEDGE
We are family, part of God’s family, his child, his son or daughter, related through the blood to the King of Kings. The writer is establishing our birthright, our blessing and our boundaries. We are called, we are capable and our confidence is in Him. We are instructed to hold fast, not to depart, never to decline and to nail down our declaration.
There is a call on our life, God himself has spoken the potential, the possibilities and the opportunity over our life.
We have a simple task – one thing – just as there was one thing we were told not to do in the garden of Eden, now we are called to do one thing in our new life. Listen, listen, hear, hear with a heart to respond in obedience, come in close. Can you overhear the conversations of God?
Every word carries an abundance of truth, and life, and hope, and peace. Every word has the power to heal, to release and to appoint. There is strength and power, and discipline in the Word of God, to train us to have what it will take to fulfil the call on our lives. We listen with a passion to put into place all that we hear from him.
UNDERSTANDING
Let’s pick one word from this verse to look closer at and see if that can help us gain a deeper insight into how God would love us to live?
The word for “mouth” in Hebrew is pronounced as “peh” and appears 498 times in the Old Testament. This word is translated in the ESV into English words such as mouth; command; ate; speech; according; opening; proportion; evidence; instructions; telling; and, edge.
Here in verse seven, we see the idea of speech or more likely command as bringing depth to the meaning.
WISDOM – who are you listening to today?
STRENGTHS THOUGHT: Command has actions that confirm beliefs, speaking with depth and looking for shared values, you stand for something and you let people know what that is.
Allan’s Unauthorised Version – [And now you that are rejoiced over and are beloved, hear with the intention of obeying, don’t turn aside, or leave undone anything that I call you to as a command.]
PRAYER: Father, thank you for today. Help me to listen to you well.
I so love feedback – please do scroll down and use a few moments to bless me…
Wow. Thanks so much for this one thing reminder. It looks like just a simple sentence but we very deep meaning and lots of consequences.
Listen, listen, hear, hear with the heart of obedience and come close in.
This efforts requires total surrender and trust to the Lord, of having the heart that is always listening to His Words.
The more you trust Him wholeheartedly in any circumstance, in good or bad, in high or low, at the mountain or in the valley, the more His words reveals and echoing in our day to day life. Amen and amen.
Thank you pastor Allan.
There can be so many voices that we hear each day. Especially through social media. What we listen or pay attention to, will determine our emotional condition and actions. We shouldn’t absorb everything we hear. Learning to listen to His voice is one of the most important lesson that I’ve learnt. Also, I am thankful that we are surrounded by a Godly family and friends whom we can listen to .
….”truth, and life, and hope, and peace. Every word has power to heal, to release and to appoint. There is strength, and power, and discipline in the Word of God, to train us to have what it will take to fulfil the call on our lives. We listen with a passion to put into place all that we hear from him.”
We are so blessed to be empowered, equiped and mobilised for live out the great commission with wisdom and leading of the Holy Spirit. This Godly confidence and genuine love dispels fear and intimidation. Happy Tuesday!
I love this paragraph – There is strength, and power, and discipline in the Word of God, to train us to have what it will take to fulfil the call on our lives. We listen with a passion to put into place all that we hear from him.
Seeking Him and Listening to the Holy Spirit, then obeying. So important.
Great wisdom question to ask ourselves also.
Listening is more than hearing. We often talk to our 2 and a half year old grandson but will have to pause his tv show so we can grab his attention and hear, but the hearing isn’t the listening we’re looking for, the kind we want is accompanied with obedience. Listen to me and do not depart from the words from my mouth! Hearing that leads to the action of obedience!
Thank Allan for great thoughts.
Wow, what an interesting life you’ve led Pastor Allan. It’s so important to have a good spportive manager who has your back no matter what. I’ve worked in a few different industries in my time. I was blessed to have this one manager who was always fair and always listened to both sides of the story. But basically you felt valued when you come out of her office. She also understood you had a life outside of work. I miss her as I’ve moved on but always make reference to her with each manager I’ve had since. Respect is earned not forced. Jesus earns my respect and admiration because He loves me unconditionally. He died a gruesome death to save us. Thank you Jesus, You are my hero. Blessings Pastor Allan and thanks for today’s message.
Ps Allan thank you
Obeying the truth of His Word ! I love your paragraph,
“Every word carries an abundance of truth, and life, and hope, and peace. Every word has power to heal, to release and to appoint. There is strength, and power, and discipline in the Word of God, to train us to have what it will take to fulfil the call on our lives. We listen with a passion to put into place all that we hear from him.” Amen
Thanks Pastor Allan for another piece of the puzzle!
Guarding our time with the Lord is such a very important discipline. We need to take time to wait on the Lord & listen to what He has to say to us. I am guilty of sometimes becoming so caught up in busyness that the time left for the most important One in my life is diminished. Listening is a skill of not just hearing but discerning with wisdom & a heart to be obedient no matter how hard. The big picture tells us that our Farher God is always good & always has our best interests at the centre of His leading & instructions so being obedient is the very best thing I can do. Time spent waiting on the Holy Spirit is never wasted & in the long run can save us a lot of heartbreak & pain from being led astray & making bad choices in the eternal things which we are called to & destined to walk in.
Today I chose to listen to Gods voice.
From the beginning we were required to be sensitive to his voice and be obedient.
But as humans we sometimes fail to disearn his voice,and hear so many other voices that will lead us in the path of destruction.
So it’s wise to know Gods word ,so that when he speak to us we know that we are hearing from God.
And that been obedient to God will open us to abundant blessings from above.
The distractions of our daily life often take us elsewhere and we forget to listen to His voice. This verse teaches us to listen, with all that we have, to the voice of God giving us sound advice, equipping us for any situation we may encounter. “There is a call on our life, God Himself has spoken the potential—-“
We have a responsibility to hold steadfast to the values He teaches us and to share this precious gift with others.
Amen!
Thank you Ps Allan – blessings .
Thanks Ps Allan.
Love your strength thought- Command has actions that confirm beliefs, speaking with depth and looking for shared values.
We listen with a passion so we can hear what God is saying but we also need to obey him.
Hear with the intention of obeying – so true.
Great reminder Ps Allan.
Listening well is so important!
Yet I have not had that word acted out yet satisfactorily. I am in this school of learning. I pray that I will “be quick listen and slow to speak “
-Listening to listen !
Listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit , totally available and Radically obedient.
Thank you Ps Allan !
This was just the beginning of your journey pastor Alan, and God see what you do with little and now he has adavance you with much and now you help direct our path now because uounwas obedience from the beginning pastor 👍🏾👏🏽
I great gift of service than to keep children safe. Praise GOD for you Allan.