Who are you listening to? What are the voices in your life that are influencing you? 

Does Jesus even make the list? My guess is yes. But, to what extent?

There are voices all around telling us: what to believe, what to hate and what to fear. Often these same voices will tell you that only they can protect your family, your finances and your way of life. 

I hear all the voices competing not just for our attention but for our heart, mind and soul. It is easy to be distracted by the opinions of others. The noise becomes dangerous when you are convinced these voices are compatible or in total agreement with our faith.

Pastor Paul wrote a letter to the church he started in Galatia. He saw that they were being influenced by others in an unfaithful way.

He cautioned them and he cautions us…

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” Galatians 5:7-8

Paul saw his fledging church diligently following Jesus and then they went off the proverbial rails. He asked the same question I asked earlier, “Who is influencing your thinking?”

Then Paul tells this church point blank, “The way you are thinking doesn’t come from Jesus.” Wow. 

This isn’t the only place where we are cautioned to NOT listen to every voice that tickles our ears. 

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, shares God’s heart with Jerusalem as they go down a path toward destruction (literally)…

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.” Jeremiah 23:16

Remember that old Sunday School Song?

O be careful little ears what you hear
O be careful little ears what you hear
For the Father up above
Is looking down in love
So, be careful little ears what you hear…

If you didn’t go to Sunday School as a kid, we sang lots of songs like this. Some good, some cheesy. But you get the point–be selective of what you give your attention to.

Jesus reminds us of this simple truth…

 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. John 10:27

Are you listening to the Great Shepherd? Don’t buy into the fear and hate. Listen for love. Everything else is just noise.

God bless,
Pr. Ben