I will listen
by Pastor Mark Gierus
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‘I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants – but let them not turn to folly’ (Psalm 85:8).
In our modern world, there is a huge emphasis on communication. During our COVID year, much has been said about communication across not only Australia and New Zealand but also the world.
The recent short-term closure in South Australia and the longer-term border closures have added more issues to the debate of communication and how things should be done in what acceptable timeframe and so on. But if people are not hearing, let alone listening, to advice, much of the communication, no matter how good and timely it is, can be lost.
Our psalmist today says, ‘I will listen to what God the Lord says’.
Do you listen to what God says to you? Have you recently heard that your sins are forgiven?
These are the words Jesus says to a paralysed man in Matthew’s account of the gospel of Jesus. These are the same words Jesus speaks to the woman who anoints his feet with perfume and her tears in Luke’s gospel.
When you hear those words, do you listen deeply to them? Do you know the truth that you receive what Jesus says? Trust Jesus in his word. This is faith, which, by his word, is created in you by his Spirit.
God promises peace in Jesus by believing that you are forgiven and by being a faithful or faith-filled person to receive all that God offers you.
You might say, ‘Well, I don’t have much faith, or I am not really a good Christian’.
But listen to the good news. Jesus meets you where you are at in life. You might be struggling; you might be taking a hammering in a storm in your life. You might be sad, grieving or even depressed. You might be hurting in a place where it seems God has given up on you. Hear and deeply listen to God in his word. His word is Jesus.
Jesus says that your sins are forgiven and to go in peace. Jesus says to you, ‘I am with you always’. Jesus says to you, ‘Come to me, and I will give you rest’. Jesus says to you, ‘I love you’.
O Holy Spirit, fill me with deep peace, joy and hope, knowing and believing that Jesus died for my sins, and he has forgiven me. Now, let me live each day in his love, free to be the person he made me, in a personal relationship with him, to go and serve others in his name. Amen.
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