I was feeling dull with that vague distance from the Lord we often sense, wondering how to solve it. Then it came to me to, Read the RED.
RED – the words of Jesus. Skip over the black words and just look at the RED. It gives you a different perspective. I remember hearing a Catholic nun reduce her advice on the Christian life to this: “read the red and pray for power.”
So I wanted to find out the very first things Jesus spoke. I looked for the RED and the first one was when He was baptized by John. Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires” (Matthew 3:14,15).
That RED didn’t seem to touch me so I moved to the next RED. I found it in the first temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. He was literally starving from a 40-day fast. He became hungry. As the devil always comes to our weak points, he showed up to taunt Jesus to sustain Himself without God. “If you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.”
Jesus answered and said,
“Man shall not live on bread alone,
but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Matthew 4:4
Oh my, the world of Jesus opened up! I’m not exaggerating when I say I saw Jesus’ way of life – His basis, His foundation. His secret!
To know God’s voice was Jesus’ first pursuit in life.
Listening was His most central and constant focus!
Jesus listened. He lived listening. By constant communion, He knew everything! He recognized His disciples. He knew the greatest truths, the future, the present. He always knew the will of God, specifically and with certainty. He knew what was in the heart of every person.
“Every word that proceeds from God’s mouth…” – that means it is personal and individual. God’s intimate nearness, just for me. When we hear God’s voice, even if it is from the Bible or the sermon, the billboard or the child’s book, it is firsthand and unique. He speaks to me, knowing me, understanding me. Loving ME!
The Lord Jesus is giving us His own secret when He is quoted in the New Testament some 15 times as saying,
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
