listen carefully

Deut. 6:3 (NLT)
Listen closely, Israel, to everything I say. Be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

Careful listening is an essential part of the life of a disciple of Jesus. Without it, one is left with selective listening. I find this way of selective listening to be way more the order of the day for Christians. This happens in two ways.

1. You have a viewpoint you wish to follow and so you go to the scripture and find texts to support your viewpoint.

2. You have a viewpoint you wish to follow and so you dismiss any scripture that speaks against your viewpoint as not pertinent today.

The corrective to these two strategies to think only on what one wants to think about is simple.

What does the whole Bible say about this viewpoint? Listen closely. Pray. Discuss this within a Christian community. Decide a course of action. Act. If you are honestly seeking God’s wisdom, he will reveal what he considers necessary. We are always careful to understand that our interpretation of his revelation might be incorrect, but if it is within the context of the Bible as a whole we are not paralyzed to act, knowing as we continue to listen closely God’s corrective is certainly available, as well.