“As a loincloth clings to a man’s waist, so I created Judah and Israel to cling to me, says the LORD. They were to be my people, my pride, my glory—an honor to my name. But they would not listen to me.”  Jeremiah 13:11

I saw this in an online devotional today.  The writer, Diane Eble in her devotional, “Abundant Gifts: A Daybook of Grace-filled Devotions”, went on to comment, “This is God’s heart desire: to be in such a close relationship with his people that they cling to him.  He then pours out his blessings so that everyone can see how wonderful and good he is.  This is still his intention!  So–are you clinging to him?  Are you letting God be God in your life, such that you bring honor to him as people see clear evidence that God is active in your life?  Are you listening to God?  Not listening was his people’s downfall.  Don’t let it be yours!”

Oh my gosh, there’s this listening thing again!  It seems everywhere I turn these days, I keep running into words about listening to God.  I don’t know about you, but I’m really getting it that God wants me to LISTEN to Him!  The other day I heard some answers after asking a couple of questions of God.  I was astounded because the answers came so quickly.  Then I ended up second-guessing myself.  “Was that you God or was that me?”  I hate it when that happens.  The answers I received kind of made my heart leap, so I was really pleased with what I heard.  Can I trust it?  Can I trust God?  Well of course I can trust God, but it’s me I worry about!  Did I hear correctly or was it the pizza I had for dinner?  This listening thing isn’t as easy as one would think.

Then there was another answer I heard this past weekend to another question I asked of my Lord.  This was the same quick, softly spoken words I heard earlier however, these were words of correction in my life.  Ouch!  He told me to do something I didn’t want to do.  I had been having an attitude over an incident with my husband earlier and I very clearly heard God tell me what I needed to do about the situation.  I think I grumbled to God about it, but I relented and did what I was told.  Do you know what happened?  The next day, my husband made a comment to me that he really noticed a change of heart in me through my actions the day before!  That caught me off guard.

So, I come back to the devotional.  In listening, I heard something I liked one time, and something I didn’t like the next.  But I made up my mind to be obedient to what I heard and worked on both things.  What did I get in exchange?  A blessing.  It doesn’t get much better than that.  The last line of the devotional is still ringing in my ear…”not listening was his people’s downfall.”  I don’t want to end up there so I’m going to work on listening some more, whether I like it or not!