[Steve Myers] Well, it seems that there are two ends of the spectrum of personal behavior, or maybe we could think of it as two ends of the spectrum of personality types. On one side, maybe on the very far side of the spectrum, we could probably label a person that falls into that far side category as a taker.

A taker, how would you describe someone that would fit into that type of a personality trait? Not too hard to figure that one out, I don't suppose. Takers take more than they give. Pretty simplistic overall, they're focused on themselves. That's what's most important. One of the interesting things is that oftentimes, a taker would expect others to act the same way. They would expect others to be selfish and takers as well. So when they look at the world, they see a competitive place. They see a place that is a dog eat dog kind of a world, and that's their world view. That view that I've got to win which means you lose. And that seems to summarize that taker point of view. I mean even if you looked it up in the dictionary, what a taker is, it talks about grasping on to things, grabbing things, holding onto, possessing or seizing something or others in that matter. So that's certainly one end of the spectrum.

Now, if we go to the other end of the spectrum, that would have to be a giver. A giver would be all the way at the other end of that behavioral spectrum. Of course, a giver on the opposite side of things, how would you describe them? You would probably say they like to give more than they get. It's not real complicated there either, is it? Instead of being inwardly focused, they would be individuals that are outwardly focused or others is what their focus would be. And so instead of this very competitive type of a world view, their world view would be one, well, if I win, you can win too. We’re in this world together and of course, they're the ones that would contribute and not expect anything in return. They give without any strings attached. And if you were to look that up in the dictionary, it's just the opposite of a taker. They would be one that would freely transfer something to someone else, whether it be a gift or whether it be a service or whatever it might be. They'd be a supplier, they'd be a deliverer, they'd be one that would yield to someone else.

Nothing too complicated here, these two broad spectra of people, of who we are. Now the question would be where do we fit on that spectrum of takers and givers? And if we were to try to summarize the epitome of an individual that would be a taker… hopefully, nobody in the congregation came to mind. Satan would certainly be the epitome of a taker. He is described as a roaring lion. And what does he want to do? He wants to grasp or seize or control or devour anyone that he possibly could. So he would be the ultimate taker. In the book of John, John 8, he's described by Christ as a murderer. He wants to seize and take our lives, not just physically, but our spiritual life. And he speaks from who he is. He's a liar, and he's the father of lies. So the ultimate taker, certainly on that side of things.

But of course, on the right side, on the ultimate side, we have God, our Father, and Jesus Christ as the ultimate givers. It would be amazing study just to... if you need something to study, you can just Google, “God is a giver,” and there is a passage after passage after passage that you can really study and do a character study of what our Father is like, of what Jesus Christ, our Savior, His attributes and His character, because it points right to those very things of strength.

Even in just the Psalms alone, it is amazing how many different attributes of being a giver are described. Even in the Psalms, Psalms 29 talks about the strength of our God who gives us strength. The Psalms also talks about the fact that God will give us the desires of our heart. We actually have a song we sing that tells us that very same thing. Psalms 84 tells us God gives us grace, He gives us mercy, ultimately, He gives us glory. And so we have a giving God who says He gives us what is good.

And we could bump into the New Testament and see how He gives us perseverance and patience and encouragement. I mean we have an amazing God and maybe most of all, most importantly... there's a passage over in 1 John 5, if you'd like to turn there with me, that describes maybe one of the greatest attributes that is evidence of the kind of God that we have, as a wonderful giver. 1 John 5:11 describes our great God and how He gives to us. 1 John 5:11 almost starts as though it's a court hearing because it talks about testimony. And testimony, of course, is what a witness would give in a court case. Something that is supposed to be the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth.

Well, here John is inspired to tell us exactly that, the amazing attributes of our God when it comes to what He gives. And here it says, “This is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life,” He sees it as it's done because we have God's Spirit. We have the earnest of eternal life in the Spirit of God in us. And so He says, “this life is in His Son.” We have Jesus Christ living in us. It says, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” And so John says, “These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” And of course, that belief isn't just knowing it, it isn't just believing it, but that belief then changes into obedience. It changes into following God. And we accept these wonderful gifts recognizing God is the ultimate giver. He loves to give. He loves to give.

Nobody would think of God as being stingy, kind of being meager in His gifts. I think Scripture bears out the fact that when God gives, He overwhelms. He is the greatest giver. And of course, these things aren't surprising to us. We know these things. And He does it because… not just it's an action for God, I think this becomes critical, God does this and is the ultimate giver because it's who He is. It's who He is. It's not just a behavior, it's not just an action, but it's a reflection of who God is. And it becomes critical then for us because He wants us to emulate Him, to be like Him, to follow Him. And so throughout scripture, we're told to do just that.

In fact, Paul reminded the Philippians of that same thought. Philippians 2:1, and it's important for us as well. Philippians 2:1, we can begin to see how that translates then for us. As we have these two ends of the spectrum: we have the ultimate taker and Satan the Devil and the ultimate giver, God the Father, reflected in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Philippians 2, let's notice the instructions for each of us, for each of us, as we strive to live God's way. Philippians 2, right at the beginning of the chapter, it says, “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,” which seems like a rhetorical question. Is there any consolation as Christ? Of course, there is. Are there any benefits? No doubt. Is there any sharing, any participation? That's that word for fellowship. Is there any fellowship in the spirit? Of course, there is. There's affection and mercy, absolutely, no doubt whatsoever.

And because these things are true, we're told, verse 2, “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, by having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” He describes even further what mind that is. He says, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also the interests of others.” He points to, right, the most critical factor here. He says, “Let this mind, let this attitude, let this framework guide our thinking,” he says, “The mind that was also in Christ Jesus.”

So that's our ultimate example in that sense that Christ, as our Savior, set the example that we strive to follow in all of our thinking. So we're told, “This is the way we need to think.” And yet every day, we're faced with the challenges of the prince of the power of the air who strives to impact our thinking, who tries to thwart our spirituality, who tries to short circuit the goal of striving to live by God. He wants to subvert us. And yet we have God who strives against that human nature, when we allow Him to, in us.

And so how do we know? Because that's what it comes down to. How do we know if we’re fulfilling this passage? Are we really esteeming others better than ourselves? Is there a way that we can gauge that very thing? Certainly, God's Law helps us to do that very thing. But I thought, for this afternoon, we might ask ourselves, “How I can know where I am on that spectrum of whether of being a taker or whether being a giver?” So what I put together is a few questions to help us, maybe on a more practical level, to answer that very question: am I a giver or am I a taker? Do I tend to look inward, thinking of myself? Do I have the tendency to look more outward, thinking of others? So let's consider that for a few moments.

Here's the first question. First question: Do I work to get or to give? Do I work to give or to get? Which side of the spectrum are we on? What we know the good old American way, it’s better to look out for number one. I'm most important. I need to get everything I can. I need to get the bigger house, the better job, the nice car. That's what's most important, at least in America, it sure is. Is it that framework that God wants us to have? Is it just to earn a living so that I can provide for my family, for my spouse, for my children? Well, certainly we have to do that. Responsible people take care of their families. There's no doubt about that. But what is our approach in doing that? What is our attitude? What is our overall perspective? Do I work to get or do I work to give?

There's an interesting passage that deals with this. It's over in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians 4:28, Paul was inspired to write to God's church in Ephesus, I think, to help them to have a proper perspective, a godly perspective when it came to earning a living because we all have to do that. We all have to earn a living. But what is our mindset? How can we fulfill Philippians 2 and esteem others better than ourselves when it comes to the practicality of earning a living? Well, here's what God inspired Paul to write to us, to the Ephesians as well. Ephesians 4:28, notice what he says. Well, this is interesting, verse 27, he says, “Don't give place to the devil.” We know he's on that side of the spectrum, he wants to pull us into taking for ourselves and be in it only for ourselves. But verse 28, he says we've got to resist that influence. He says, “Let him who stole steal no longer,” can’t allow that influence, “but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good.” So that should be our perspective. Okay, I can't take what's not mine. I can't seize those things. I can't be like that wrong influence. Instead, I've got to have the impact that God wants me to have. I’ve got to have His framework. I've got to even do more than just be in it for my own self, for my own family, for my own children.

He says, “Okay labor, work with your hands,” but notice, he also gives a motivation that goes beyond self. He says, “working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” So working for ourselves is not God's perspective if that's all we have. He tells us we work to give. One of the reasons we work is not just to provide for… oh yes, we have to do that. But there's also this outward focus, that we can give because we work. And that should help frame why we work. And it expands our perspective that much further. In fact, in a way, he gives it as a bit of a command as he wrote to Timothy, the apostle Paul, under God's inspiration.

In 1 Timothy 6, let's notice the way that he words it, as he writes to the young minister Timothy. 1 Timothy 6, and we’ll begin verse 17. 1 Timothy 6:17, here he comes to the end of his letter, and it's interesting that this exhortation comes toward the end, maybe some of the last thoughts that Paul is striving to inspire Timothy with as he is working on himself and helping serve God's people. Notice what he tells him, verse 17. He doesn't say it would be a nice idea. He doesn't say, “Well, maybe we should think about this.” Or “perhaps we could consider these.” He tells it pretty straight out, doesn’t he? Verse 17, he says, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, not to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” You see, because when we're self-sufficient, don’t we have that tendency? I know we, as Americans, we never feel this way, do we?

We've been so blessed. If we compare ourselves to the rest of the world, none of us, even those who would be the poorest among us in America would be considered rich by the world's standards. And so he says, “Don't be haughty, don't trust in uncertain riches.” You see, that's that inward focus. That's not the other focus that God wants us to have. And so instead, verse 18, he says, “Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.” And so he lays out this connection between literally, physically giving and building a spiritual foundation of good works, building a spiritual foundation that is built on Jesus Christ.

And so he says this is who we need to be. This is how we begin to have that mind in as is that we are focused on the right kinds of things. We're not focused on the things we have. We're not focused on those things at all. We're not trusting in those things. We're not trusting for our 401(k)s, that's not where it's at. He says, “We're trusting in the living God, and it changes everything.” And we should recognize the fact that God gives to us, and He certainly wants us then to learn to give, to learn to share, to learn to be generous, because we have such an amazing, generous Father. And so certainly that can begin to help us to identify, in this aspect of life, do I work to get or do I work to give?

Number two, number two, a second question that we can ask ourselves to gauge where we are on this spectrum. Now, in some things, we may be wonderful givers. In other things, we may be more toward the other side of the spectrum. Where are we? Where are we? Number two: do I marry to give or to get? Am I married to give or to get? If I'm single, do I want to be married to give or to get? You know, as a single, that's challenging. What is our mindset when it comes to that?

We might think, “Well, I would love to have the blessings that come from marriage.” That is a good thing. But is that really a full perspective of thinking about being married? I want to receive the blessings from marriage? I don't know that we'd be that critical about that thought. But what about turning that around a little bit? What about thinking, “How will marriage give me the opportunity to serve my spouse, to serve children that may come?” That kind of spins it around a little bit. Rather than focusing on what blessings will I receive, what opportunities will I have to give, to serve, to help? What can come from that?

So where is our mindset? All too often, it seems well, if you rub my back, I'll rub yours. Is that really a giver? Or is that giving maybe with strings attached a little bit? God certainly maps it out for us in a familiar section of scripture. In Ephesians 5, in Ephesians 5, he gives us instructions for husbands and wife. Ones we're familiar with, we know this section of scripture, but how does it apply when it comes to everyday living, and we think about how we treat each other. What our mindset is towards our mate. Let's notice Ephesians 5, maybe we can begin with the men in verse 25. Ephesians 5, we’ll begin in verse 25, and he gives some pretty specific instructions here. It tells us, “Husbands, love your wives,” well, I love my wife. That's easy enough, isn't it. Right?

You probably heard that story about the guy that got married, and 25 years later, his wife said to him. “Well, you know, you just never tell me that you love me.” And he said, “Well when we got married, I said I loved you. So if anything changes, I'll let you know.” Okay, is that what we're talking about? We're given the example, right. We're giving the ultimate example right here on what that love means. How it's exemplified. How is it? It says, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also love the church” and what did he do? He “gave Himself for her,” He gave Himself, evidence of the ultimate giver. He gave His life so that He would sanctify it, verse 26 says, “and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the word.”

So as husbands, we know we are to strive to follow the example of Christ. That's a given. That's what we need to do. How often do we fall into that category, where I really give to my spouse in a Christ-like manner? Where do we fit on that spectrum? Of course, the wives aren't left out either.

Down in verse 33 at the end, it says, “Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself,” for the men, and ladies, “let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Verse 22 talks about being in subjection to your husband. Was that a once in a while kind of thing or when I want to or where do I fit on that spectrum? Am I married to give or to get? What do I expect in return? How do I manage when I don't receive the things that I think I should? Can I continue to give? Can I continue to emulate Christ who gave it all and what did the Church give in return? Nothing. But Christ gave His life as a ransom for us. So where do we fit on that scale, that spectrum of taker or giver?

Number three, number three: do I worship God to get or to give? Well, we probably say, “Well, I want to give God my all. I want to worship Him. I want to honor Him, and those are certainly probably our intentions. We want to do that very thing. But as we maybe think about it, at a deeper level than just the surface, there are some wonderful words that God inspired the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, if you want to make your way over there, I won't spend much time at it, but just bring it to your attention. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, perhaps later in the Sabbath, you could read through these sections of scriptures, because there's some beautiful examples of what it means to truly be a giver. Now, we're not just talking about money. We're talking about our life. Our lifestyle, our Philippians 2 mindset.

It tells us that we should excel in giving, not just be an okay giver, not to be just a good giver, but to be an excellent giver, that he even tells us to be a hilarious giver, be a cheerful giver, he talks about. Because God loves that mindset, because that's the way He thinks. And of course, as we begin to consider those kinds of things because God has called us, opened our minds to His truth, shown us a way through the sacrifice of His Son to have a relationship with Him.

What is our response to that? You see, I think what our natural response should be, spiritual response, it should be to honor Him, to praise Him, to obey Him, to put our trust in Him, to hope in Him. Which is all on the giving side of things, isn't it? It's not expecting things, expecting blessings, expecting life to be just peachy keen perfect. That's not the mindset. The mindset is honor and praise and worship and obedience, because He owns us. He owns us, and so we pay homage to Him, and we praise Him no matter the circumstances. There's no strings attached.

And as you read through chapter 8 and chapter 9, it points that out and yes, it does include our finances as well, doesn't it? It does. We can go to Malachi, we don't have to, but Malachi 3 talks about not robbing God in tithes and offerings, because it is a reflection of our attitude, our mindset, and it points to something I think that's really critical. We know in the Old Testament times, during the Old Covenant, they sacrificed animals, right. They sacrificed, the priests sacrificed bulls and goats and doves, all kinds of different animals. One of the interesting things that's noted about those sacrifices, we won't turn over there, but in the book of Numbers, it refers to the sacrifices. And in chapter 18 verse 11, you just write that down, it talks about those sacrifices as being something special. Not just an offering, not just a sacrifice, but Numbers 18 says that those sacrifices are gifts. They're gifts. They're given to God. They’re given to God, and that becomes critical when we fast forward to the New Covenant.

We live under the terms of the New Covenant, and we're told very specifically about sacrifices, about the gift that we give. Romans 12:1 deals with that. If you'll turn there with me. We know this section of scripture. It talks about the gifts that we give to God, and it's certainly not bulls and goats or calves or doves or anything like that. What does Romans 12 talk about? Well, it says we are that gift. We are that sacrifice. Romans 12, right at the very beginning, it says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” In the Old Testament, it was the priests' reasonable service to sacrifice animals.

But here, we see the deep spiritual meaning behind those sacrifices that we don't come to worship God to get. We honor him and we praise him by striving to be this living sacrifice, a sacrifice that in every area of our life, whether it's work, whether it's marriage, whether it's worship, that it's a reflection of who we're striving to be, striving to move away from that taker side of the spectrum to the godly side of the spectrum. And so because God has called us and because we're a sacrifice, we're not a sponge just try to soak up everything we want, we think we deserve. No, we’re a living sacrifice. And we offer our life as a sacrifice, as a gift, in that sense, as we give to God.

So where do we fall on that spectrum when it comes to worship? We're not talking about just here on the Sabbath, but throughout our week. Does our action reflect worship and praise and honor and glory to God as that living sacrifice between Sabbaths?

Number four, number four: do I fellowship to give or to get. Why do I fellowship? There are some fantastic examples throughout the Bible. Right at the very beginning of the New Testament Church, it talks about the disciples that continued in the apostles' doctrine. And of course, that's critical. You must have true doctrine. We have to have the right teachings. Without the right teachings, we’re totally off track. But it's also interesting in Acts 2:42, it tells us not only the doctrine was critical, but it also talks about the fact they continued steadfastly in fellowship, sharing, that set word koinonia, to share, to give to each other, we participate together. That word has all of those different aspects to it, as we’re striving to be more like God, so we fellowship together. And as you would study the word fellowship throughout the New Testament, there are some amazing things that God has given to us.

Paul and Barnabas were given the right hand of fellowship as they were sent on a mission, as they were given duties and responsibilities. And in a sense, as God calls us and open our minds to His truth, it's almost like He extends that hand to us, that we can fellowship with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians talks about that very fact. We're told that there's a fellowship that we share because of the gospel. Paul told the Philippians about that as well. We're told that we have the fellowship of the Spirit because at baptism, we received God's Spirit, and that thrusts us into His Body, the Church. And we can share, and we can participate together. And so as we consider this concept of fellowship, how would we gauge the kind of fellowship that we participate in? Do we fellowship to give or to get?

There's a section of scripture that deals with this that I'm sure you're familiar with. It's over at Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10:23 is just one of so many passages that focus on this aspect of gauging whether we are a taker or whether we're a giver. Hebrews 10:23, it tells us to, “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” So that's one thing we can always count on. You can always count on the fact that God isn't going to go back on His promise. He loves us. He's made us promises. He says He'll never leave us or forsake us, He is faithful, we can trust Him. We can have absolute faith and confidence in Him because He is the ultimate giver. We can trust Him. And so that should be then reflected in how we deal with each other. So he says in verse 24, “let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,” so part of the concept of fellowshipping should be for this very reason. Does God stir us with His Spirit?

I think He does keep that promise. He says we're to share that. We're to have communion. That's where that word communion comes, from sharing, participating, koinonia, same word, fellowshipping. So we are to fellowship with “one another and stir one another up to love and good works.” He says, here's how we do it, “we’ve got to be together.” We've got to be together. If we’re not together how can we possibly accomplish this? And so He tells us we’re His Church. We are the ecclesia, we’re those that are called out of this world.

But it's not just the calling out of the world, there's more to it than that. They would often use that word to describe the city councils during this first-century era. They were called out of the general population of the city, but it wasn't just that they were called out. It's like our council members here today. They're called out of all the elders, but you know what? They're brought together to serve, and so they will do the work of the Church this coming week. For all of us, as a part of God's Church, we're called out of this world, and we are brought together as the Body of Christ. We're given opportunities to be givers in fellowship, to fulfill this kind of exhortation that we're given, to stir one another up, to love and good… It's not just to get together and feel better and hopefully, make it through the next week.

No, it's to encourage and urge each other on. It's to fulfill this command that God gives us. Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together, because we're called out. Now we're brought together so that we can do this. It even says, “so much the more as you see the day approaching.” I don't think any of us would, for one moment, think that that day is “Whoo, boy, it’s way off.” Do we see the day approaching? Do the events that have been happening in the world, it just seems like on a weekly basis, does it point us to the fact that this can't go on, this can't continue in this way? God’s going to intervene in this world’s affairs. If we see that day approaching, which we must, He says, “Be a giver. Be a giver and have it reflected in your fellowship.” Because this godly fellowship is a gift of God, and so utilize that gift and show this gratitude that we have to God by sharing among the Body of Christ. He wants us to do that very thing.

Number five, number five: do I serve to get or to give? What we know we're called to be givers, we're called bondservants. We're to be slaves, we're to be the ultimate servant. We're supposed to be out there for the benefit of all. We know these things. In fact, where is it, in Galatians, I think, it tells us that we're not to grow weary as we're serving and as we're giving. “Don't grow weary in good” works and we know that it's “more blessed to give than to receive.” Remember Christ's words being quoted over there in the book of Acts.

It always seems to me that if we take on that selfish approach, that inward approach. Now you tell me, does it seem that the takers and what they want most, it seems that they get the least when it comes to those things? Because what they want most doesn't seem to come about. On the other hand, the givers that want to give seem to get back what they give most. And I think it seems to fit exactly with that law of sowing and reaping. God talks about that so clearly. When we give to others if someone gives to you, how do you feel? What is your reaction? What’s your mindset? You probably want to give in return and that's a good thing. That's a very good thing.

And so as we consider why we do what we do, how do we gauge ourselves when it comes to service? There is a challenge because it's possible to be a giver in taker’s clothing or to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, right, same kind of thought. Is it possible to be a taker in giver’s clothing? In other words, I'm giving in order to get back. Yes, it's possible. Can you think of any examples in the New Testament that point to individuals who are like that? They gave to look good. They gave so that they could seem to be just such wonderful people. Yes, I think there's a few that came to mind. Ananias, Sapphira maybe came to mind.

I thought of 3 John talks about a man named Diotrephes, must have been an awesome servant. But it seems like he was a taker in giver's clothing because it says there in verse 9 of 3 John that he loved the preeminence. Loved to be on top, loved to shine, loved to get the attention. That was his point of view. And so I think we need to step back and ask ourselves, “Why do I… Why do I serve my spouse? Why do I serve others? Why do I help a church? Why do I do these things? Is it because I want the pat on the back? Is that why I do it?” “Wow, that's really great. What a wonderful person you must be.” Is that what we want people to think? And we only do it because of the attaboy, “Wow, way to go, attaboy, that's great.” Is that why we serve?

I can think of an individual I knew many, many years ago, gave at an opportunity to really serve and did an amazing job, really jumped in, fulfilled a real need. And so it certainly appeared that all was well. But later on, this individual became very upset. He was really aggravated. And as it kind of came out, the reason they were upset is because the people that they had helped and served didn't give enough thanks, didn't write a letter of acknowledgment to say how wonderful the service was that they didn't give enough thanks. They didn't give enough attaboys. They didn't give enough way to goes. They didn't give enough pat on the backs so that they became bitter about not getting what they thought should be their reward in that sense.

Certainly, we don't want to be in that category. Because if your giving is with strings attached, that's not really giving, is it? No. That's more of like an exchange of goods, isn't it? You go to the grocery store, you buy food, you give the money. Does the clerk at the store say, “I'm giving you these groceries?” No, they're not. They’re not. Now that's not a bad thing, but that's commerce, right. That's not a gift, we don't call that giving. That's just an exchange of goods because true giving doesn't expect anything in return. True service is in that regard.

So where are we on that spectrum? Maybe one of the things we'll find is that, depending on the time, depending on the circumstance, we're at different spots on that spectrum. But overall, God wants us to keep moving toward His side of the spectrum. True, we’ll never be perfect, but He gave us the instruction, “Become perfect like your Father in Heaven is perfect.” That's our goal. We strive to rise to the level of Christ, to His standard. That's our goal. That's where we're heading. And so to ask these difficult questions and gauge ourselves. We’re not supposed to gauge our wife or our children or a person sitting next to us or the congregation—it’s for us. So we can ask these very personal questions that, in some ways, only we know the answer.

Why do I pray, to give or to get? Why do I study? “So I can become a scholar. So I can have great understanding.” Well, that might not be a bad thing. Is it to give or to get? Why do I exercise? Even a simple thing like that? Why? Why do I do that? Why do I love? Why do I want to learn? Why do I want to grow?

If we put all of those things into the formula of “Why am I doing this? Am I doing this to give or to get?” If we begin to think about it in those ways, I think it becomes a way that we can gauge where we're at, so we can strive to fulfill Philippians 2 and put on that mind that Christ had, to have His insight, to have His attitude, to have His emotions, to have His frame of mind, and His thinking. And of course, as we begin to do that, that's a very personal thing, a very individual thing, because we're all different and we all have different ways that we can give.

Wouldn’t be fair to compare ourselves among ourselves, that's not wise. Scripture tells us that. Some of us have great financial means. Others, not so much. There are others that have time, they can give time. Others give encouragement. Some can share their wisdom and their knowledge, their experience. So I think it's important, as we consider these things, we don't want to beat ourselves up because, “Well, I can only give this way or serve in this way.” I don't think that's what God wants us to do, but He wants to have us excel in the ways that He's blessed us with. There are so many blessings when you consider that.

Are givers blessed? You know, is there a sowing in a reaping principle that applies to giving? I think so, when you consider it. Just think being free from that destructive mindset of greed. Greed monetarily, greed for self-interests. You know, that sinful mindset, we can be free of that. We can be conformed to the image of His Son, God's Son. We can be like that.

Being a giver brings us to that, because then, it changes things. It changes our relationships, our relationships with each other. It changes our relationship with God. I think it moves to a deeper, more enduring relationship that we can have on every level when you really think about being this giver. And ultimately, we can reap eternal life. That's the ultimate gift that God gives us.

So as we consider these things, a couple of things to think about in this coming week. Let's think if there's maybe a practical action that we can take, a couple of action steps, if you want to call them that, as we go through this week, not just the Sabbath kind of thing, but an everyday kind of thing. Is there anything that we can do more on a daily basis, this coming week, to see where we fit on the spectrum?

First of all, if we could take time this week to really pay attention to the way that we think, to our mindset that then turns into specific actions, our conduct, can we begin to step back a little bit from just all the busyness and all the activities that are going to be going on this week, and just consider “Why am I doing this? Why did I act that way? What got me into that frame of mind? What was I thinking that led me to that action?”

And if we begin to do that, I think we can then look at our lives. And there’s going to could be times we're going to go, “You know, I was really a giver in that situation.” Of course, we’re not going to brag about that to anybody else in that, but we can take heart. We can take encouragement. I think God wants to give us that encouragement that yes, you can succeed. You can put on the mind of Christ. It's possible to give without strings attached. I can do this without expecting things in return.

And of course, like always, when we gauge and test ourselves, we're going to find times that we're not exactly going to measure up to that ultimate standard. But if we could pay attention to our thinking that develops into those actions, I think it will help us to begin to judge ourselves a little bit more effectively. We might even ask ourselves or I'm asking myself, “Am I a giver or taker? In this situation, what is my mindset?” Now we could also ask, “Does my wife think I'm a giver or a taker in this circumstance. Do my friends see me as a giver or a taker? What do my coworkers think? Do they think I'm in it for myself, climbing the ladder? Am I in that kind of thought in their mind, or is it different?”

Now you don't have to ask them necessarily. That could be a scary thought. If you're really bold, maybe you would. But I think that can help us just to imagine, “What do they think?” Not that I'm trying to impress somebody or anything like that, that's not the point. The point would be, is that really who I am. I can gauge myself then. And as I consider that, that's another way that I can judge myself. I can judge myself because I want to be that giver. I want to emulate Jesus Christ. I want to strive to be perfect like my heavenly Father is perfect. That's where I'm heading. I don't want to be on that wrong side of the spectrum. That's the way I want to walk.

And if I can think of those practical ways to judge myself, that should help me then to take the action to overcome, to repent, and then to change. And then you know, we can really think about ways I can give. Because if I look at myself and say “Boy, I didn't do very good on that one. What can I do? How can I become that giver?” So you don't leave it in the negative place, that God doesn't want us just to see, “Oh, boy, I’ve fallen short of His standards, why try?” See that's not what God wants us to think.

He wants us to see us as we are, see ourselves that way, and then think of the ways that we can take action. Because He loves us, He wants to support us. We can pray. We can ask God, “Help, show me ways that I can give,” and that giving can take so many different forms, based on the ways that we can give best and we can give most. I think we probably could all step back and think of at least one way that we could be a better giver: a better giver in our marriage, a better giver at work, a better giver in fellowship, a better giver in... fill in the blank. I think we can all come up with something.

And then of course, on the other in the spectrum I think we sometimes need to step back and say, “Okay, where I have been a taker? Where have I been a taker? And how can I begin to root that out of my life? How can I decrease that kind of thinking, so that's not reflected in my action because that's not who I want to be.” And maybe it's just beginning that step to say, “You know, I'm going to do what's right, what's best. I'm going to give, and I am not going to expect anything in return.” That's my goal because we don't want to be a taker in disguise, right? I think if we consider the fact that according to our abilities that God blesses us with, it's going to be unique. It's going to be different than anyone else, and that's a very good thing. That's a wonderful thing because we don't want to compare, and we don’t want to give by what somebody else is giving. That's not the point.

I think there are so many blessings and so many ways that we can look at our own lives in this coming week and commit to continue to walk down that path, to be the kind of giver that God wants us to be. In fact, there's an amazing passage that I think, in a way, points to the kind of giver that God is and the kind of giver that He wants us to be, and then also focuses on the results, as we strive to be that kind of person. It's over in Luke 6:38. Let's take a look at Luke 6:38, love this passage, as Christ instructs us in the kind of individuals we need to be and the kind of giver that God is. This is kind of a fun scripture when you consider it in this mindset. He says, “Give, and it will be given to you.”

When we have that Philippians 2, esteeming others better than ourselves, and if we put that into practice, we have the mind of Christ, and it can't help but have results. “Give, and it will be given to you,” and not just kind of measly kind of given back, not kind of a paltry return. But look at the way God gives. “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.” See, that's the kind of giver that God is. It's running over.

I mean I think of that in terms of summertime. Anybody like ice cream? I like ice cream cones in the summertime. Do you ever go to these soft serve places? Some of them have perfected the art of just opposite of this passage. They have a way of twirling that ice cream in the cone, and it looks like it's full, and then you eat the ice cream down to the cone, and it's empty. That's not how God is. God is going to get that ice cream right to the bottom of the cone. That's the way God is. He's going to make sure that is jam-packed and a full cone is what you get. He's not going to, you know, shortchange you. That's what He's talking… it's “going to be a good measure, pressed down.” Of course, He's probably talking about grain in this instance, but you think in terms of ice cream, that's the way God is. He's going to give you a full helping, overflowing.

God is blessing us in these ways. And then He tells us that's what we're to do. “The same measure that you use, it will be measured back.” So as we strive to put on that mind of Christ, let's allow God to train us, as real givers, and all strive to reflect the giving character of the greatest giver of all. And that is are our wonderful, great God. So let's be that giver and strive to be that way more fully this coming week and beyond, in everything we say and everything that we do.

[Steve Myers] If someone asks you, what is the most difficult thing to do? What might you say? Difficult things to do, especially in this world. Of course, I realize we've just watched the Olympics not too long ago and we might say, a double back flip with a one and a half twist to, you know, beautiful dismount. Okay, I'm not talking about that sort of thing.

What is one of the most difficult things to do? You know what came to my mind? Change. It is hard to change, isn't it? I mean, it's not that we don't want to, we want to change. We look around in this world and people do want to change, at least at some level, don't they? Whether it's changing our weight. Whether it's changing our nose. Whether it's changing jobs. There is a level of how we do want to change so that we're dissatisfied with something in our lives.

But maybe taking a little bit more deeply, we probably know people who are more serious about things beyond those kinds of issues. There are those who want to change substantial things in their life. People who want a better attitude. They want a better temperament, spend more time with their families. Want to develop relationships.

And yet, when you consider those things, especially for our own lives, even with the best of intentions, those things can elude us. And I think it's because when it comes to real, positive, lasting change in our lives, there's only one way forward. There's only one path. And that is through our eternal God, and, ultimately, His purpose for our lives. Because if we don't understand what God's purpose is, what His will is for our lives, how can we make the changes that are necessary?

And when we think about change, it can be one of those things that seems kind of not very clear, kind of ill-defined. It can seem kind of ethereal, if I want to change, "Okay, well, how do I do that?" Well, the apostle Paul had a section of his letter to the Ephesians that zeroes in on several elements that are specific. I think they're true. They are lasting elements that can lead to real change, that can lead to spiritual change.

And so I thought it would be helpful to take time this afternoon to look at these necessities. I think you could call them, even more than necessities, they're requirements. They're essential if we're going to change and ultimately find that path, that path that will avoid the difficulties, avoid the disasters that await out in the world, and can help us to a real relationship and a deeper relationship with God.

In fact, I think we can find those over in Ephesians 5:15. If you'll turn there with me, Paul outlines these essentials so that we can avoid the difficulties and the disaster spiritually, that might otherwise await us. Ephesians 5:15, Paul starts this section by saying, "See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." And so in these three very short verses, he outlines a plan that we can all put into effect in our lives.

So let's look at these three things for a moment. First, he starts out by saying, "walk circumspectly." And, of course, we all understand exactly what that means because we use that word every day in our conversation, don't we? Circumspectly, it's even a hard one to kind of say, "walk circumspectly." When you get down to it he's saying, "Have a purpose, don't just kind of walk around. Don't just kind of amble or meander, or walk to wander.” He's much more specific than that because he's pointing out the fact, this life that we're walking is in a minefield. If you look back just a couple of verses to verse 8, he says, "You were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light."

You see, we can't grow dim. In this walk of life, we can't blend in with the darkness around us. He says we have to stand out. In fact, verse 11 says, "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them." And so rather than just thinking that God is light, or Jesus is light, here the apostle Paul says, "You are light." You're the source, and when you walk into a room and you're the light, what happens to the darkness? Yeah, flip on a switch in a dark room and where's the darkness? It's gone. It's gone. And so we're to be that light and think of it in those terms, that we cannot have anything to do with things that are dark.

If you read verse 11 in the Good News translation, it says, "Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light." And, of course, if they're brought out to the light, they can't be dark. They can't be dark. And so we expose the darkness to the light. We reveal it. We recognize it. We see it. We show it for what it is, and, ultimately, it's sin. That darkness is sin. And so we cannot do those things that others do that are in the darkness, and so we bring it to the light. We dispel it. We put it away.

And, in fact, when you look at verse 15, he uses this word, "walk" I think for a very specific reason. "Walk circumspectly" and it's not just, "Well, I'm walking along and that's the image that I can have," but it's so much more than that. So much more than that, especially when you consider the way that Paul most likely used this word in the first-century because we don't do this.

In the first-century, people didn't walk for exercise, did they? Did you read about anybody in the Bible, you know, that that had a treadmill? That just, "Hey, it's great to walk." No, that's not why they walked. They walked for a purpose. They walked for a reason. Of course, they walked because they had to, they didn't have any cars or anything like that. But there was purpose behind their walk. I mean, you can read of so many different times when this was the exact case.

One of the ones, I think it was Acts 10, where Peter walked 40 miles from Joppa to Caesarea, and it was for a specific purpose that he walked. As I began to think about that, I got totally distracted and I thought, "I wonder how far Jesus walked." Have you ever wondered that? Well, you can actually Google that and it'll, you know, give you several sources that will tell you who how far Jesus walked. How far do you think He walked? Well, according to mywellnesswarriors.com, “In His lifetime, Christ walked over 21,000 miles.” 21,000 miles. They've even got to calculate it out.

Now, He is down in Egypt. Okay, He's a little baby but He did have to, as He was older, walk back all the way to Jerusalem… Nazareth. You walk from Egypt to Nazareth, that's 400 miles by itself. You know, they didn't hop on the freeway and take the car and get there. And, of course, you had to go back and forth and back and forth from Nazareth to Jerusalem and back and forth again. They calculate that would have been something like 18,000 miles in His lifetime.

And then just during His ministry, just during that three and a half years, they calculate Christ would have walked well over 3,000 miles. So can you imagine walking over 1,000 miles a year? Now, did Christ have a purpose? Did He have a reason for walking? You see, first-century disciples, our Savior, during the first-century, walked to get somewhere. They walked to a destination. They walked for a purpose.

And so Paul didn't use this concept of walking as just a nice little idea, he's making a point here. Walking spiritually pictures that constant progress toward our ultimate goal, to that destination of the Kingdom of God. That's what this is about. And so you walk circumspectly. You walk for a purpose. You walk accurately. You walk diligently. Because if you don't know where you're walking, what will happen? In fact, I think they have an old saying for that, don't they? "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else," right? Yeah, you won't get where you need to go.

And, in fact, the Bible says so much about the way we walk and the difficulties. If we get off that path, if we don't walk circumspectly, if we don't walk with a purpose, if we don't walk toward our goal, we're going to end up somewhere else. And when we're somewhere else, we're in danger. We're in danger because this world is a minefield that is out there to destroy us spiritually. It's a spiritual minefield out in this world. And we can get so off track that if we're not careful, it will blow apart our spiritual life.

And so God doesn't want us just to meander through life. He's got a purpose and a plan, and if we do that, if we get off track, we're going to end up where God doesn't want us to be. And so we have to pray. We have to pray about that, because, well, you remember what it says in Jeremiah. Is it in me? You know, do I know the best way to live my life? Most Americans, I think, would say, "Well, of course. We're Americans, we know what's best. I know what's best for me, this is what I want to do."

But, really, is that the way we need to look at life? Do I know the best way to order my life? Do I know the best way to walk through the minefields of this world? Do I know the best way to worship and honor God? You see, most people would say, "Well, yeah, I can take that in my own hands. I can decide for myself. I can do what I want. That's the American way." But God inspired Jeremiah to write, "It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps." It's Jeremiah 10:23. We don't know the way to walk toward the Kingdom of God. We don't know that way. We need God to reveal that to us. God has to show it to us.

Now, of course, He will direct our steps when we submit our lives to Him, but you know what? There's still a little bit of a catch. We have to choose to walk that way, don't we? God can reveal it to us, "This is the way. Walk this way," but He also says, "Choose life. Choose which way you're going to order your steps." And so when you look back at Ephesians 5:15, "Walk circumspectly, not as fools but wise," because there are the minefields that would spiritually destroy us. And if we are to avoid a spiritual disaster and avoid those minefields of that destruction that's out there, we have to walk circumspectly, carefully, carefully.

Now, how do you negotiate a minefield? Well, I thought of that and got totally distracted as I was preparing the sermon. And do you know there's articles out there on the internet that tell you about how to negotiate a minefield? There are, in fact, here was one by a man named Phil Sylvester, editor for Travel Insights. It's a travel site, website. And there was an article, right, called, "Landmines in Cambodia," and it's subtitled, "Why you should watch your steps."

Now, it's been many years since some of the wars and problems that they've had, so tourists are returning to Cambodia. And if you remember years ago with the Khmer Rouge, and even Vietnam and some of the difficulties between the tribes there, nobody would go there. But now people are returning. And, of course, that means the mines that they laid during that time, they're still there. They're still there.

And so in this particular article, he writes about how to avoid landmines. Now, here's one of the first things he said, "It's when you step outside the main areas that you're taking a risk." When you get off the beaten path, in other words, you are in trouble. You are in trouble. He says, “Tourists… are well advised not to wander around." In other words, "Here's the way, walk in it." You get off the path, you wander around, you could walk right into a minefield. And so he says, "You better consider carefully what you're doing. You better watch carefully and pay careful attention so that you don't end up in an area you don't want to be."

And so we have to be careful. In fact, it’s… well, I thought it was a little humorous. One of the things he said to avoid a minefield is to take a guide along. Take a guide. Because he wrote, "Over the years… the locals have learned where it is safe to walk." Probably by a little trial-and-error and maybe losing a limb or a couple of friends, that sort of thing. So he says, "Take a guide." Well, hasn't God guided us? Doesn't God give us His direction as He tells us, "Walk with exactness, walk with precision."

Trust God. Don't trust your GPS. We probably all know how well our GPSs work, right? Because none of us have ever put a little address into the GPS and we follow it faithfully to our destination, and we pull up and we go, "Wait a second, this isn't the restaurant. Where did it go?" It got it wrong and we just blindly followed it. And so we can't do that, especially when you consider this spiritually speaking because if we do, it's going to be a lot worse than not finding the restaurant. We could end up in a spiritual minefield that could take our spiritual life if we're not careful.

So Paul is reminding us, "Walk precisely." And, in fact, this word for "circumspectly," was a word that the Greeks used in accounting. And, of course, if you're an accountant, is it good enough just to kind of get close to the right total? Okay, we all probably have to do our checkbooks. We're supposed to reconcile our account, maybe not our checkbook, but online. "Oh, did they do it? Did they do it right?"

Well, if you go to reconcile your account and you kind of look at it and you go, "Well, is that 1,000 or is that 10,000? Well, it doesn't really matter. Close enough. I'll say it's $10,000." Well, that isn't going to work too well, right? We're to start bouncing out account all over the place. And so you've absolutely got to be precise. And so when you translate that into how we walk, how we live our life every single day, Paul saying, we've got to walk like true believers. We've got to choose the way we walk. We've got to walk that right path and not be wandering all over the place, because our enemy has strewn that path with dangerous mines that will blow our lives apart, because, he says, "These days are evil."

And we're fighting a spiritual battle. We don't want to kid ourselves. And too often, do we find ourselves kind of strolling around life, not really having a straightforward purpose? I mean, do we flirt with danger? Flirt with difficulties. Don't really pay that close attention to what's really at risk. I mean, if you think about it for a minute, what if the Israelites did that as they were to march around Jericho.

“Alright, God said this is the way, walk, walk around Jericho. You're supposed to do this for seven days." "Well, I don't know if we have to do it exactly that way. Well, how about if we just walk down the Jordan? It's kind of a little bit more scenic, a little bit more beautiful. We kind of take in the sights, enjoy the land. That'll probably be… God doesn't mean we have to do it that way, how about if we just go the way that we want to? Probably a lot more fun."

Well, what would have happened? Certainly, it wouldn't have fallen. The people followed God's instructions. He said this is how you walk. This is the way you do it. This is how you spend your time. And, in fact, He said, "Spend your time every day doing this," so they did it the First Day of Unleavened Bread, they did it the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh day, completeness. A number of completion. Their whole walk was following God's directions because you're not going to get through life's difficulties and life's challenges without some spiritual disaster, a mine blowing up, if we don't follow His guide. There's going to be trouble. There's going to be trouble.

Can we walk our own way and expect not to be attacked by the enemy? You see, I don't think we can. And so God points us in this direction. And one of the challenges I think is, we sometimes convince ourselves, "Well, it's not that big a deal, is it? I mean, it's just a minor little thing." And we kind of fool ourselves. And yet that's not circumspectly.

I was reminded about this as I was reading a little bit about aircraft carriers. And so you can tell in my sermon I got totally off track as I was preparing it and started looking at aircraft carriers. But I learned something kind of interesting about them. Aircraft carriers had a problem when they first started implementing them. I mean, it'd be great. You're out there in the water, we need planes, you know, they'd be closer to the destinations, closer to the targets, easier to refuel, what a great idea? And so they came up, “Well, you build a big boat, you make this long runway, voila! This will work great!”

But you know what happened? Where do you put the planes that aren't flying? “Oh, we'll just put them at the far end of the runway. That will be great.” And so that's what they did. And so the planes would come and they'd land and, wow, that's a really short runway. And they'd end up crashing into the planes at the end of the runway. And, of course, “Alright, we can fix this.” So what do you think they did? “We'll have a net that will catch the planes and that will slow them down as they come in.” And you've probably all seen those YouTube videos, right? The planes come in, they land, “Oh, get the net, they're not slowing down.” And then they hit the net and they flip over the net and then they smash into the planes that are at the end of the runway.

But you know what fixed the problem? You think, "Oh, we've got to go back and we've got to redesign the entire concept. We got to start from scratch and do it over again." No. Nine degrees. That was the difference between success and smashed airplanes, nine degrees. Just nine degrees, you know what they did? They offset the runway nine degrees. So instead of going straight along the whole path of the aircraft carrier, they came in on a nine-degree angle, repainted the lines so planes could come in...  guess where they put the extra planes? In that space that the nine degrees didn't face directly.

So they could come in, land and, uh-oh, if it's too short, I could hit the gas again and take off and go around and try it again. Nine degrees, that was the only difference. And the amazing part to me, do you know when they finally figured this out? Not after World War I. It was after World War II, 1952. Long after the Second World War, they figured out with this minor little adjustment, they could save millions of dollars and all kinds of planes. Just with that small, little correction.

And so I think it makes the point that just getting off a little bit, you get into big trouble. And to make those corrections in our life so that we are aimed in the right direction, it can save our life. It can save our life. And so it's not oftentimes these big things that need to be changed. In fact, I read about another circumstance, I think one that probably most of us are familiar with, but you don't think of it in these terms.

There was a man, back in 1972. I know for some of us that's, wow, pre-historic. But for us, "old guys," isn't all that long ago, it seems. But in 1972, there was a man named Frank Wills. And he was a security guard. And while he was doing his rounds one night, he was walking down a certain section of the building and he noticed a set of doors that had a little bit of tape over the latch on the door. And, you know, you've got the handle and you got that little latch that pokes out and it kind of locks the door, well, he noticed there's just a little bit of tape over that latch that was keeping it unlocked.

He thought, "Well, that's kind of funny." And so he took that little bit of tape off of there and kept going on his rounds. Well, on his next series of rounds he came back. He noticed the same doors and there was more tape, just barely sticking out from the edge of the door, that was back on that latch again. This time he said, "Alright, something's up. There's a little piece of tape keeping that door unlocked." He called the police. You know what resulted from that little piece of tape and Frank Wills noticing it? The resignation of the president of the United States. He worked at the Watergate complex and he just happened to notice a little piece of tape that kept the doors open. It's those little things.

Yeah, he walked circumspectly and noticed it. He didn't overlook his rounds. And we can't allow even the littlest of missteps to throw us off-track spiritually because our enemy that is out here is ready to pounce on us. He is a roaring lion that can't wait to devour us. And so just a few missteps, even the small ones, can get us significantly off-track so that we could be devoured if we're not careful.

And so, here the apostle Paul is reminding us of that very thing. That we need to walk circumspectly. We've got to be deliberate. We've got to be intentional. Don't let life just happen, be intentional. Make the right choices. And then we'll get to where we need to be. Where we, ultimately, where we want to be.

In fact, he expands on that a little, back in Ephesians 5:16. So go back to Ephesians verse 16, chapter 5 verse 16. And Paul will talk about a second essential, a second necessity or requirement. If we're going to avoid the spiritual minefields, if we're going to avoid disaster and truly be on the path to real change, Paul focuses on that in a second aspect. Let's notice it. Ephesians 5:16 he says, "redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

And I think that's kind of a given. I mean, would there be that many people whether they're in the church or out of the church, to say that this is in a pretty evil time that we live in? I think most people will say, “Yeah, there's terrorism, there's difficulties, there's ISIS, there's, you know, difficulties with our health, heartache, tragedies. You know, terrible circumstances out here.” So most would probably agree.

But there's so much more to what he's getting at here. Do you see where he's going? I mean, is God just concerned that we recognize the world's a bad place, or is there more to it? Well, yeah, there's more to it. Do you notice what he's saying here? Because these days are evil, here's something we must do. Because of the world we live in, this is what we have to be able to fulfill in our life. In order to change, we've got to make sure that we realize this is the time to do it. This is the time. Redeem the time.

In fact, we've got that famous phrase, "There's no time like the present." Or, "There's no present like the time." Well, they kind of reflect each other, don't they? Isn't that true? There's no time like the present. We need to redeem the time. So, alright, practically, put that into practical terms, what does that mean?

If you were to look up this Greek word, it's the Greek word exagorazó. It's pretty impressive, isn't it? I press this little button on this Biblical site and it pronounces the word for you, and I'm not sure if I got it right or fairly close, but that's, I think that's about what the guy was saying on the site. Exagorazó has several definitions. There's several ways that the Greeks use the word, and when you consider these different definitions, I think it really brings home what the necessity is here. What is the requirement if we're going to change and grow and avoid the spiritual minefields out there?

One of the ways to think about it, are there any of us here who like to shop? Okay, I guess I got my hand up. Don't go make me buy underwear or clothes or socks. I'm not into that kind of shopping. But many of us are into some kind of shopping in our lives. I mean, who of us doesn't like a good deal? I like to get a great deal. It's like, "Whoa, I got a fantastic deal on this." And in a way, this word for redeem, points to that idea, because it literally means “to buy something out of the marketplace.”

So you go shopping, and it doesn't mean, well, I just went shopping and I bought something. No, it means more than that. It should have us picture a merchant, you know, someone that's a shopper, would be another one. And they go to the marketplace, but what they do is they find the best deal. And it's not just find it, "Oh, here's a cheap thing and it's a great price so I'm buying it." That's not the purpose. The point is, this merchant goes to the market, gets the best deal on the best quality item.

And that's kind of the backdrop to one of the meanings of this word 'for redeem.' To get the best bargain on the best item in the marketplace. And, of course, that means you got to look for it. You got to find it. Because if you're a lousy shopper like me, I show up at the store and they say, "Oh, it was yesterday we had the 20% off, not today. Oh, that's too bad, you just missed it by a day." It's like, “Ah!” Yeah, that's the way I shop sometimes. Like, uh, that's terrible.

That does carry the meaning of this redeem the time because this time is an opportunity. And there are certain opportunities that we have that only come along once in a while, right? You miss the half off sale, sorry you got to wait, maybe until next year, we might do it again there. And that's the sense of what he's getting at here. That we don't want to miss this opportunity, we got to make the best purchase at the best price of the best item.

And that applies to our life, because another definition for this word, maybe brings out that aspect even a little bit more. Because it can mean “to make a wise choice,” but not just make a wise choice, “but use that choice for good.” In fact, if you looked it up in Thayer’s, Thayer’s Word Dictionary, it says, "To make wise and sacred use of every opportunity for doing good." So everything we do isn't just for me or my fun or my self-interest. He says we can have it for a sacred interest.

You know, do we use every opportunity for doing good? I mean, that's a pretty amazing concept, when you begin to think about it. Because we have been given the ability to make wise choices and dedicate them for a good purpose, for a godly purpose, for a sacred purpose. That's what redeeming the time can mean, because it also carries a connotation of redeeming a slave. It's another facet of the definition for this word, to redeem. And what that means, you go to the slave market. Now, instead of going to the store to buy something out of the marketplace, now you redeem something from the slave market. Which means, you as a householder, you go to the slave market, you purchase a slave and then you bring them to your household. And it carries a connotation, they're never on the market again. So you purchase them out of the market so they never can be enslaved again.

And I think that brings to mind some interesting connections when you think about it. Because in some ways, don't you think we can kind of be enslaved to time? I mean, sometimes we'll say, "Our boss is a slave driver," or, "My work enslaves me. You know, if I could just get out from under the slavery of my job." You know, sometimes we think in those terms.

And I think there is a connection when you really consider what it's talking about here because there is a price to be paid to make sacred use of every opportunity. Isn't there? I mean, we can just go through life and it just kind of happens. And it just occurs. But can we use those things for a godly purpose? I mean, this is telling us, don't let time pass without the opportunity to make it right. To make it good. Even to make it holy.

You know, can I do holy things when I do them for God's purposes? Yeah, I think that's kind of what He's getting at, and it certainly reminds us, how often does opportunity knock? Yeah, not very often, once, is the way the saying goes. And so if we waste those opportunities, if we waste that opportunity and we fit in with everyone else in the world, yeah, we're going to waste 11 years of our life watching television. Is that what we want? Is that a sacred purpose for the time of our life?

We waste the opportunity, we're going to spend what, 70% of our life in front of digital media? That's what surveys say these days. Is that a sacred use of our time? Now, some of it could be, but come on, what do we get out of watching YouTube videos hour after hour, "Oh, that's a funny looking cat. Wow, isn't that great? Well, you got to see this." How much time do we waste? Is that really using the opportunity to redeem the time for a sacred purpose? I mean, come on.

Surveys show that men waste a year of their life. Do you know what they do? Watching women. A year of their life. I mean, unbelievable, unbelievable. And then there's all those other things that we really become enslaved by. And so I think that's a question we have to ask ourselves, "Are we enslaved in the way that we use our time?" Because Paul is telling us, God… He's telling us here. You can't retrieve it. You can't relive it. You can't stretch it out or borrow it or loan it or stop time, or store it up.

He's telling us, we got one life. We have one opportunity, and either we use it or we lose it, right? Game of life. "Can I have a timeout?" "Sorry, used them all up. There ain't no timeouts in life. Not going to happen." "How about an instant replay? Can I have an instant replay in life?" Literally, no, ain't going to happen. There's no such thing as an instant replay in life.

And I was reminded of this when I read about a survey that was done by a psychologist. This was done many, many years ago. It was by a guy named Dr. William Marston. And he polled thousands of people and he asked this question. He asked, "What do you have to live for? What do you have to live for?" Now, how do you think people answered that question? What do you have to live for?

And after kind of tabulating all the results and the different responses, he kind of boiled it down to something that was really pretty stark, when you consider it. What he surmised is that 94% of the people he polled were enduring the present while waiting for the future. Ninety-four percent enduring the present while waiting for the future. And I read that and went, "That doesn't... how is that true? How would that fit in a poll like this?"

But as I read more about the survey, they were waiting for something to happen. They were waiting for something to happen, like, "Wow, can't wait for my children to grow up and be independent." "Oh, I can't wait to retire and do all those things I never could do while I worked." "I can't wait to pay off the mortgage and then I'll have some extra money." "I can't wait to take that big vacation I've always looked forward to." "I cannot wait for..." Well, fill in the blank. Do we find ourselves thinking like that? Because while we wait, life is passing us by and it's not enjoyed, it's not appreciated. It's not walking because either we're waiting or we're walking.

So, God reminds us, we got some purchases to make, don't we? You better buy those wasted hours and use them for an eternal significance. You've got to grab every opportunity, buy out of the marketplace every opportunity to grow, every opportunity to come to a deeper relationship with God, every opportunity to conform to His image. And whether it's raising children, whether it's dealing with people, that has to be a part of it as well. We have to be good stewards of all of our resources.

And He says to us, invest wisely. Use those opportunities to give and to serve. Purchase those opportunities for the purpose of the Kingdom of God. Because you know what the challenge is, are we handed these things on a silver platter? Does this world just say, "Alright, you're such a nice Christian. Here it is." No way! This world wants to control us, wants to control our time. It wants to encourage us to use those opportunities for pleasure, for self-seeking self-interest, and whatever self you can think of.

It wants us to focus inward instead of outward. And we can get sucked into that way of thinking. We can be drawn into it, even when we least expect it. I mean, we have a wonderful opportunity just ahead of us. We're going to go to the Feast of Tabernacles. What a wonderful opportunity to redeem the time! And yet all too often, we get into pleasure and self-seeking. "Well, this is the time during the Feast. Well, let's go clubbing, because what a great opportunity!” Is that what we should do at Panama City Beach? Is that what we should do in Mexico? Is that what we're going to do? "Well, now is the time to… well, I don't want to party that much, but maybe just a little tape on the door, maybe just one big bash.” Will that do it? “Well, they're doing it, so I guess that's okay.” Well, is that our standard? Is that redeeming the time? Are we going to be a standard of righteousness striving to live by the standard that Jesus Christ set? Are we putting on His mind? Are we growing in that way, using those opportunities for eternal significance? Or has our runway faced the wrong direction? You see, that's what it comes down to. And we can't allow that.

And we talk about that with our young people. Talk about that as counselors at camp. What do we say? Well, we have a camp standard. This is the standard for camp. This is the kind of swimsuits we wear. This is the kind of behavior. This is in the zone, that's out of the zone. Of course, we all know that only applies to camp. “I'm not at camp anymore, so that standard…” wait a second. We kid ourselves like that. How ridiculous to think that way? We're just fooling ourselves. And we're just putting a little tape on the door, and that can lead straight to that ambling, wandering minefield that's out there.

And so when it tells us to redeem the time, yeah, there's a cost. The cost is saying, “no.” No, to what's dispensable. No, to what's temporary. No, for what's not lasting. No, to what's nonessential. No, to the secondary physical things. And it means saying “yes” to what's crucial. Saying, no. Yeah, that means saying no, to endless hours of video games.

I got to say “yes” to reading my Bible. Yes, to not missing services. Yes, to prayer, to growing in that relationship with God. No, to wasting money on… you know, I don't like that word but, "worldly pursuits." Call it what you want, right? Fill in the blank with what, "worldly pursuits" mean. We got to say “no” to that, and “yes” to what will last. And so walk carefully and use those opportunities wisely.

So, redeeming the time means making the most of those opportunities and taking advantages of the opportunities God's put before us. So, can we live with eternal perspective now? You see, that's what God has in mind for us. It means well, quit saying, "Well, if I only had the time." Because we do have time. What do we do with that time that we've been given? If we quit worrying, yeah, it sometimes means I got to quit worrying about what tomorrow might bring and focus on today, because God's going to take care of tomorrow. He promises to take care of tomorrow.

And so, yes, sometimes it's the other direction. Sometimes I got to cut loose of the past. I can't be wrapped up in what's happened before, and so I've got to make sure that I bury the failures, bury the past in that grave of God's mercy. God extends His mercy and forgiveness as we repent and redeem the time.

In fact, there's such a powerful passage right near here. It's 2 Corinthians 6:2, let's notice it. 2 Corinthians 6:2. Perhaps a little bit of a summary of this whole concept of redeeming the time. 2 Corinthians 6:2. Notice what God inspires, what He says. 2 Corinthians 6:2, it says, "At the acceptable time," now this word for time is the exact one we just read in Ephesians, "redeem the time." That opportune moment, that opportune event. "At the acceptable time, I listened to you. At the opportune moment, God called us, opened our minds to His way." And He says, “'And on the day of salvation I helped you.’ Behold, now is the acceptable time." This is it. Now is the time. Now is our opportunity, “behold, now is the day of salvation."

And so we have to respond to that calling that God's given us. Now is the time. And we can liberate our time by dedicating absolutely as much as possible, to grow in our relationship with God and not letting it slip out of our hands and go some other direction. That's what God wants. He's called us right now, so now is the best time. Now is the best time for us. Now is our best shot at this. And so take advantage of that opportunity.

Back to Ephesians 5, we can pick up the third essential, third necessity, third requirement, if we're going to avoid those spiritual minefields, spiritual disaster that's out there and truly grow and change. God inspired Paul to write for us this third necessity. It's not a real complicated one either, once again, chapter 5 verse 17, "Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."

Well, not wanting to make changes, makes it happen, not even just wanting to be serious about making changes makes it happen. If we're really serious about making change in our life, we need to understand, what is our purpose? What is God's goal for us? What is His overall purpose in our life? And so if we don't understand the ultimate purpose for our life, we are going to wander off the path. We aren't going to stay on direction to what God ultimately has for us in His Kingdom.

And so Paul uses much of the book of Ephesians to point out that purpose. And we know that purpose. We know there is an eternal purpose for us. We know that God wants to bring us into His family. He wants us to be His spiritual children. He wants us to be divine members of His family. Chapter 3 of Ephesians talks so clearly about all of those things.

Now, the challenge then is, we have to live our life in line with that purpose. Yeah, we can understand that purpose. We can know that purpose. But knowing it, understanding the truth, that doesn't cut it. We got to do something about it. We have to live our life in line with that truth, because it turns out, if it's not the will of God, if it's not in accordance with His word, it's not of God. I mean, we have God's will. This is God's will before us. It is His word. And if my behavior doesn't match with His word, it's not God's will. That's how simple it is. If my behavior doesn't line up with the word of God, it is not His will. We can't claim it to be His will.

And so then we've got to strive to be like David. Psalm 143, don't need to turn there. David praised, "Teach me Your will. Teach me Your will." We need to be taught God's will. "Lead me to repentance," David said. "By Your Spirit, lead me in that path." And so, as we discover this word and internalize it that much more, we find there is a prerequisite for knowing God's will. A prerequisite is mentioned over in John 7:17. I will turn there. John 7:17. Here Jesus states a prerequisite for knowing the will of God.

Let's notice what Christ Himself said here in John 7:17. Well, first He gives the Father credit in verse 16, saying, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me." So we see the humility of Jesus Christ. But then He goes on in verse 17 and it says something, I think is pretty amazing. He tells us, John 7:17, "If anyone wills to do His will," so if we want to do the will of God, it says, "he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority." So he uses Himself as an example, but it applies to all of us.

When we want to determine the will of God, He says it better match up with true doctrine. It better match up with the teachings of the Bible. If we want to do God's will, we better recognize, what is the teaching that really is from God? What is true teaching? And once we recognize doctrine, the truth, it's not just knowing it, now we have to conform to it. We have to live it. We have to do it. We have to really experience.

I think that's another way to think about it. Wanting to do the will of God, knowing the will of God, and then experiencing the will of God, means we put it into practice. And so, like Romans 12 talks about, not conformed to this world but transformed. What is that good and perfect, acceptable will of God? Well, it's being conformed to Him, transformed to His way. That's what it's about.

And so we submit our own life, our own thinking, our own ways, into His hand, and we commit to it. Not just that we're convinced that it's the truth, but we're convicted. We're committed to it. We're committed to each other. We're committed to each other as His Church because if Christ is coming to marry His Church, we better be a part of that. And so we have to have a commitment to each other as well.

So if someone is straying off the path, can we help them? Can we influence them? Absolutely, because if we are to be wise, especially when it comes to His plan and His purposes, then we have to base our choices and our decisions on His eternal plan. That means, “Oh, what I want, what I think might be fun, what I think might be cool, what doesn't line up with the will of God, that's got to take a back seat. I can't go that way. I have to subordinate my plans to God's will and His attitude and His perspective.” It has to be that.

And so, His will dictates the plan, the walk, for my life. And He's going to direct that path. He promises to direct that path. And so, hopefully, it motivates us and moves us to face the tough questions, to face the difficult questions in our life. I think a difficult question is, "Am I completely willing to surrender to what God says?" That's some difficult words right there, "Completely surrender. Completely surrender." Because that means, what, a little bit of obedience? Mostly obedience? Sort of submitting to Him?

You see, it's not in-between with God. He says it's absolute, total obedience. And that goes against our thinking. It goes against our human nature. But it doesn't go against the spirit that God's given us. It doesn't. If we submit to that spirit, we can give up what we want and we can follow what's best. And God promises, that is best for us. And the results will be so much better than if we amble off in our own direction. And so we've got to ask ourselves, "How much sin do I tolerate in myself? Am I drifting into tolerating sin?"

We know those tiny, little compromises. They can take us into a very bad place. And if we focus more on the physical rather than the spiritual, boy, it's going to be pretty tough to go the right direction. So God tells us, don't get caught up in that way. And, yeah, being different might feel uncomfortable at times. We are set apart from the way the world thinks. And it should help us, really, ultimately, to counteract the world's influence.

And that's a tough question too, "Am I really counteracting the world's influence by submitting to God's will, knowing that will, doing that will?" Which means I'm not going to leave my Bible in my car for the whole rest of the week and never take it out until next Sabbath. That's not what I'm going to do. I can't do that. It means I'm going to obey God. It means that I'm going to pray, develop a deeper relationship. It means I'm going to serve others. It means I'm going to fast, and maybe not just on Atonement. I'm going to draw closer to God.

And maybe I ought to ask myself as well, "Have I brought it before God? Have I laid it out before Him?" Have I said, "God, this is tough because it goes against my nature. Help me. Help me to grow. Help me to submit to you. Show me how I can better apply your will and your way in my life. Help me to do that." How do you think God would answer that prayer? He loves us. He cares for us. He wants to help us and direct us and guide us.

In fact, He looks at us and, you know, He sees the ultimate. He sees the completed project, doesn't He? In fact, a couple of pages over from where we began, in Ephesians 5, if you go to Ephesians 2, notice this perspective that God has. I think it's a powerful, positive perspective. Ephesians 2:19, gives us a little insight into God's mind and how He looks at us.

Ephesians 2:19, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners," right, we're no longer wandering and ambling around this world and its ways. “But” instead, we're “fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” we're in the family. We're in the house. We're a part of God's family, “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fit together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."

And so God sees us in a positive way. He sees us walking that path toward His Kingdom and He wants to keep us on that path. He wants to continue to direct us that way. He wants us to grow. He wants us to be built together. He has all the best plan for us. And so He tells us, "Don't live dangerously. Don't walk out there into trouble."

Now is the time to be more fully committed to God. These Holy Days that we're coming to, they help us. They help guide us through the mind of God, to be that much more determined to live it, day in and day out. And if we're going to negotiate those minefields that are out here, and if we're going to avoid that spiritual catastrophe that we might otherwise face, that means we've got to use the time. And we've got to use that time wisely and for sacred purposes. That means we've got to walk circumspectly and know exactly where we're going, and strive with ever more determination, to continue on that path to the Kingdom. And it means we know God's will, and more than just knowing it, we are going to put it into practice.

We've got a great God on our side. We can do this. And so we've got to take that opportunity because He's telling us, “That's the time. The time is now.” So let's be determined to make the most out of every single opportunity.

[Steve Myers] I mean, why do we have issues? Why do we have challenges that cause discord? Why do we have these kinds of things? I mean, we have our normal default, don't we? Our normal default would be, it's Satan's fault. Let's blame him because we know, yes, he's the accuser of the brethren. He's the source. Yeah, okay, I'm not trying to minimize that. Certainly, he tries to disrupt us and he plays a part. Yeah, I totally agree with that. He wants to influence us in the wrong way and disrupt any kind of unity we might have. I agree. But at the same time, we're free moral agents. We have choice. We make choices and we exercise those choices. And so, just to put the blame somewhere else, isn’t it totally fair.

And while it's true, we are diverse, we are different, how can we deal with that in a totally different way than the world? I mean, is it even possible to have unity in diversity? Because we are different. Well, is it possible? Well, we're told, not only is it possible, but that we are commanded to have unity. Christ said that very thing, John 13:34, didn't He say, "I'm giving you a new commandment, that you have unity?" All right, He didn't say it that way. But He said, "You love one another. You love one another, the way I've demonstrated love to you. For all these years I've been with you, I've demonstrated what real unity, what real love is about. You love one another the way I've loved you." And so He says, "Not only is something nice to have, but it is a command." It's a command.

But we do find these wedges can get between us, these barriers. And we're not talking about doctrinal things. We're talking about preferences. We're talking about likes and dislikes. We're talking about those barriers that can come between us, as brothers and sisters in Christ. And, of course, we do have to recognize the fact that, all right, my personality is different than yours. We deal with things differently. Some of us are more extroverts, some are introverts, more outgoing, more reserved. Yeah, that's the way we are.

And sometimes the families we grew up in play on that, have an impact on that, our environment? Yeah, they sure do. But when you think about other factors, our culture, maybe even parts of the country that we grew up in or what country at all that we grew up, certainly, there's differences there. And we're not all the same economically either. You know, standards of living among us are quite different. And sometimes that can bring a sense of superiority, a sense of selfishness, a sense of that "I deserve this" or inferiority. And so those types of factors are definitely things we have to deal with. And then, of course, one of the big ones that has been impacting our world lately is race.

Race. Obviously, there's differences between the races. And yet in the world, the result is bias, and injustice, and unfairness, and prejudice, and inequality. That's what our world is like, but it can't be that way in here. It can't be that way among us. We can't get into that aspect of us versus them. And that's really what that comes down to. They're different. They're not my group and so automatically, I'm not sure that I trust them or want to be with them. And so it produces that kind of an attitude, that we give preference to those that we're alike and we give a difference and a prejudice to those who are different. And in the Church, you can't call that anything but a spirit of division. That's what it is, a spirit of division. And walls are erected, barriers are enforced and we don't see things the same.

And while that's true, we do things differently. We have different likes. We have different dislikes. Somehow we've got to get beyond that because our calling says, "We love. We care. We're to be one." So, how do we do that? How do we get to that point to turn those disrupting differences that are causes of division, how do we turn those around into builders of unity? Because that's what we have to do. That's a calling. I mean, is it possible to have that kind of unity when there's so much variety?

I mean, part of what we have to start with is the fact that God loves variety, doesn't He? I mean, He loves diversity, especially when you think about His creation. He made aardvarks and alligators. Talk about diverse. Yeah, they're pretty different, aren't they? And pines and pansies, and pulsars and planets. He made all these beautiful things that are so very different. And this display that we see out in nature, I think demonstrates the fact that God loves variety. He loves diversity. Now, does He love diversity in people? Well, I think He does. When it comes to people, what is His plan? What is His purpose? I mean, I know there's some out there that that look at the Bible and they misunderstand, and they'll say, "Well, I guess God just preferred Israel. They were His favorite son. You know, He played favorites and that's all that that God is about."

I mean, is that true? I mean, did God only ever intend to work with Israel and that was it? We know better, don't we? We know better. God always intended to give everyone an opportunity to understand the truth, to draw close to Him, to get to know Him, to be converted. That was His plan right from the start. Now He began with Israel, that's true, but always intended to give everyone an opportunity. There's a beautiful passage in Isaiah 11:10, I will turn there. Isaiah 11:10 makes that very point that God not only loves variety, but He expects it. He expects diversity. And within His plan, He has a means and a way to work with that diversity to bring Him glory and honor. Isaiah 11:10, we kind of jump into the middle of a thought, but it points to Jesus Christ. Isaiah 11:10, says, "In that day, there shall be a Root of Jesse,” and, of course, that Root of Jesse is Jesus, Jesus Christ. It says, "who shall stand as a banner to the people." So what is this banner? What is this flag all about? What is it representing? Well, it says, "for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious." So, this is Old Testament stuff.

But it bears the fact that God always intended to work with the Gentiles, always intended to work with those that weren't Israelites. And that was part of His plan and purpose, He started with Israel, He's going to work with everyone. And that time is coming, in fact, in a way is already here. Many of us would be called Gentiles. We're not Jewish. We're not Israelites. And so, we're testament to the fact that God does work with a variety of people, even today. And in the future, He's going to give everyone that opportunity. All those who never knew them will have that opportunity. In fact, you might even make a note of Galatians 3:8, I won't turn there. But that cites Abraham as the ultimate example of this, that God worked with Abraham, but in Abraham, who was going to be blessed? All nations. All nations would be blessed because ultimately, the Christ would come through that line.

And so, when we recognize that, God looks at people a little differently than the way of this world, doesn't He? In fact, think about what we've been given to do, as a group, as a collection, as the Church of God. Do we have a mission that's God-given? I mean, does He say, "Listen, this is what you need to be about? I mean, is it all just about me and my personal salvation and I don't have to worry about anyone else? I mean, we know better, right? We sing that song quite often, don't we? It's number 101 in our hymnal. You know it by heart, don't you? "Go ye therefore into all the world." You can sing with me. "Preach the gospel unto everyone." What are we supposed to do then? "Teach all nations to observe all things I have commanded you." Yeah, Matthew 28:19, the commission that God has given us is to how many nations? How many just selective, special little pets that God has? No, all nations. God wants variety, in other words, or He wouldn't have made it this way, He wouldn't have made people this way. So, we cannot despise what God has created, really what He has authored because He loves variety.

He loves diversity. And diversity and variety is not a reason to separate. It's not a reason to build walls. It's not a reason to divide over personal preferences. God says, "That's ridiculous." And in fact, He gives us an example of a church, a church of God, that had issues with this very thing. The church is Corinth. And in 1 Corinthians 1:10, here we begin to see how that impacted God's Church in Corinth because they faced many of the same issues that we face today. We live in this diverse culture. They did too. It was this great harbor city where people were coming going from all over the Empire. And they had challenges because God called all kinds of people from all kinds of walks of life.

And so, notice what Paul writes to them 1 Corinthians 1:10. He says, "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus, that you all agree with one another so there may be no divisions among you, and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought." And so as we look at the beginning of 1 Corinthians, it becomes pretty clear what was their problem, division. And you could trace that division right to the same things we face. And whether it's race, or social status, or sex, or culture, or personality, differences of opinion, whether you wear a mask or not, oh, well, maybe that one's not listed there, but those are the same things that they faced. And those personal differences were causing them to divide, to play favorites.

In fact, just a couple of pages over, if you look at chapter 3 verse 3, notice part of the results of that. 1 Corinthians 3:3, "You are still worldly. For since there's jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?" You see, He didn't say, "Oh, because there's differences of doctrine because you're not following the truth…" No, He's not saying that. He says, "You're jealous and you're quarreling." He says, "Are you not acting like mere men?" Yeah, they were influenced by the world around them and they weren't acting like converted Christians. They were acting like regular, old, carnal human beings. That's what they were doing. And Paul's pointing out how unacceptable, how that influence of the world has impacted the Church.

And so much so it even impacted what their practice was during church services and even to the extent of the Passover. It impacted their celebration of probably one of the most important things that we do as God's people, as we recommit ourselves and dedicate ourselves to following God that one time a year. In fact, we can notice this if you go over to chapter 10. Chapter 10 verse 16, he points to the impact that the Passover should have on us, to remind us from where we've come and where we're to be. Now 1 Corinthians 10:16, he says, "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?" And, of course, this is not a communion like most religion would think of "communion" with some grape juice and a little wafer or that sort of thing. No, He's not talking about that.

This Greek word is the word koinonia. And it means fellowship. It means sharing. It means participation, that we are participants in the blood of Jesus Christ. In fact, He says it again about the bread. The bread which we break, is it not the communion, the sharing, the participation, the partnership? That's what that word literally means. We are partnered together because we are in the Body of Christ. And so, he says, "Though we are many, though we're diverse, though there's a variety of us, we're one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread." And so, Paul's making no mistake here, he's saying, "Listen, we are one body." And the Passover illustrates that very fact, that we can't have these separations. We can't have cliques and divisions, and groups within the Body of Christ. There has to be peace. You see, instead of jealousy, instead of, you know, these differences that come between us, there has to be harmony in the Body of Christ. And we can't be emulating Corinth. He says, "Yes, I recognize there are slaves and free. I recognize there's Jews and Gentiles but that's just an outward thing. We are one in Christ."

He says, "There's nothing wrong with those differences. There's nothing wrong that we grew up differently." He doesn't say, "Well, because you're a Jew, you're evil or because you're a Gentile, you're awful." No, you're converted. There's nothing sinful about that. But we have to be unified. We have to be unified. And I think it's interesting that it's not that unity means we're all a bunch of yellow pencils, that we have no personality, we have no difference. No, God loves variety. He loves differences. He doesn't say we all have to be lemmings, right, and just fall right off of the cliff. No, He's not saying that at all. He's saying, you can have unity, even in diversity. And He's not talking about solving that problem by political correctness. That's not the answer.

So, how do we solve the problem? How do we bring unity within our congregation, within the greater Body of Christ? How do we bring that? How is it possible to have unity and diversity? All right, let's think about that for just a moment. In fact, 1 Corinthians, I think gives a little bit of a key to that first step that's so important. Turn over a couple of chapters to chapter 12. 1 Corinthians 12:8, it makes the point very strongly here that if we're going to have the kind of unity that God calls for, we have to understand each other. There has to be an understanding that not only do we understand, but we seek it out. We engender understanding between each other within the Church.

1 Corinthians 12:8, notice the way that Paul puts it here. He says, "One is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues or languages, and another the interpretation of languages." And so, he's talking about various spiritual gifts that God gives. And it's interesting that what do those different gifts, those different abilities and talents, you might say, that God gives, are those things that separate us?

Are those things that say, "Well, my gift is better than you, or I'm smarter than you, or I'm more talented than you?" No, he says, verse 11, "One and the same Spirit works in all of these, distributed to each one individually as He wills. For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one, so is Christ." Now we know that analogy, we understand that. But when we recognize the facet that's going to bring us together, that same Spirit. And it's mentioned over and over and over again in these few verses here, isn't it? If you look back at verse 8, through the Spirit, at the end of that verse, the same Spirit, the same Spirit, again mentioned in verse 9, by the same Spirit. And by that Spirit, it's working. And we understand each other. We seek to understand.

In fact, He says, we have to come to this point to accept that, yeah, we are different and we have different abilities, different gifts that are God-given. But when we submit ourselves to God, that diversity comes together to honor, and worship, and praise God, and build the Body. And so this judging others, putting people in categories, discounting people, that's not where it's at. We can't presume to judge someone as lesser or inferior or useless. He says, "We're gunning for trouble if that's the case." And Corinth had done that. And so he's telling them, "Seek to understand each other. Get to know each other. Recognize that God uses these various things and brings it together for good. It's all for good." In fact, it reminds me of Hebrews 10:24, where we're reminded there that we're to “stir one another up to love and good works.”

And I think sometimes we stir each other up and we get excited about things and we get bent out of shape over things and we're stirred up all right, but not in the way that God intends us to be stirred up. Stir up to love and good works, to understand that we're all different due to God's plan and His purposes, and not everybody has to be just like me. Like, could you imagine how bad that would be? Yeah, they don't have to…  We don't have to be all exactly the same to be righteous. We don't all have to be exactly the same when it comes to preferences and to be converted. That's not the way it should be. To be acceptable in my group, you better be like this, no, that's not the way it's supposed to be.

And so, Paul told the Corinthians, this understanding and that seeking to understand has to be there if we're going to build unity in the body. Of course, he goes on from there as well, and I think touches on another vital aspect that sometimes we may overlook or maybe, oftentimes, we think it's someone else's job. You know what that is? To nurture. Nurturing. We need to nurture each other within the Church, within our congregation. And it's not just one person's job or just a handful of individuals. No, we need to respect each other and we need to value each other. And this week should remind us, we need to have a thankful attitude when it comes to each other because that impacts unity. In fact, one of the Proverbs, I think, brings this out in a unique kind of a way.

Proverbs 11:25 speaks to this nurturing aspect, that this isn't just a female thing. Well, females they should be nurturers, you know, the men should be the lead. Well, we all need to be nurtured. We all need to be respected. We all need to be valued. And this concept of nurturing tends to bring that to our minds. So, in Proverbs 11:25 in the New King James, it puts it this way. It says, "The generous soul will be made rich" or nurtured, I suppose you might say, "and he who waters will also be watered himself." Now, of course, this soul is talking about this whole being, the whole being, this individual, a generous individual… In fact, New Living says "The generous will prosper. And those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed."

And so that concept of, we nurture others and we are nurtured as well. The message says something like those who bless others are abundantly blessed. And those who help are helped. And so you have this beautiful symbiosis here that… it all works together very beautifully. Because we all need to be valued. We all need to be loved. We all need to be needed. We all need to be nurtured. And when we're valued, there's an appreciation there. We're put down, feels destructive, we feel out of place. And so, this idea of being acknowledged, that there shouldn't be a soul that comes to church and feels like nobody even knows they're there, nobody even recognizes them. It shouldn't be like that at all.

And so I think what we need to ask ourselves, "Well, how much do I really value others? Do I really value others or not?" I mean, it's one thing to ask that but how am I showing that I value others? What in my actions, my behavior show that I do appreciate, I'm nurturing others? Because that's an important aspect. Because this world is so backwards when it comes to that. You know, how does our world look at it? You know, I think the axiom out there is, if I can step on everybody below me, it'll raise me up. And I do that by putting others down. And we don't feel valuable, we feel used. Anybody feel used on their job at all? Their's, you know, to do the bidding of the company. They don't really care about me. Can't be that way in the Church.

And so, showing this appreciation, that I really do value others. And then I take the time, that it's evident in who I am and what I do, to nurture and show respect and care. In fact, in the book of Romans, Paul puts it a little bit differently. Romans 12:10, familiar passage. But when we see it through these eyes of being a nurturing individual, I think it kind of jumps out at you a little bit. Romans 12:10, it says, "Be kindly affectionate to one another." Well, we're nurturing one another. It says, "With brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another." So, our preferences shouldn't divide us, that we prefer someone else over ourselves.

And so, I don't think that's something you can fake. Either you got it or you don't. And so, it's talking about love and, you know, as we think about this idea of being a nurturing person, it's something that comes from within us. It's not just an action, it's about who we are. And we care deeply. We're concerned about others in a deep way like we mentioned in John 13. We're demonstrating Christ-like love, and we're putting it into practice. And self begins to take a backseat in that regard. And so, Paul is reminding us, "Yes, this is exactly what we need to do.”

And there's no excuses when it comes to race or gender, or any of those things, even genetics. Sometimes it's hardest to get along with people in your own family. Do you ever notice that? Some will say, "Well, it's a genetic thing." I did read something interesting about genetics the other day. And it was a little article that was talking about jokes and humor, and that there is actually a connection to genetics. Now, I know you all think I'm setting up a joke here but I'm not. This is actual reality, that scientists have actually discovered a genetic variant of a particular gene, and that gene is 5-HTTLPR. And if you have that variant gene, you're more likely to express laughing and smiling, and those positive expressions is the way that they put it.

And so, do you have that gene 5…? Well, it's actually serotonin transporter-linked polymorphic region. Yeah, if you got it, you probably like jokes. Even bad dad jokes, right? And I was telling somebody about this the other day, they said, "Yeah, that's true but did you notice it says it's a genetic variant? So you're a variant." Okay, that was not appreciating our differences there, I guess, no. But the point is, God appreciates us. And we do have to nurture. So because I don't like certain hymns we sing, I can't appreciate the fact that someone else likes those? "I don't like those new sounding songs. They're terrible." Well, really? Can't we appreciate the fact that others like them? Because they seem to be able to appreciate you like the oldy moldy ones. Can we do that or do we have to fight and fuss over those things?

It seems like we get into those silly differences, and we're not nurturing. And so, that's the challenge. Just realizing that all of us together, what others provide is ultimately good, and it should be good. And we must use it and progress toward good for the Body, for the Church. Now, of course, to have that unity that God expects us to have, another facet is required, and that is the fact that we must imitate Christ. We have to be imitators. We have to have His perspective. We have to have His humility, His patience.

There's a good summary passage of this in Ephesians 4. You'll probably recognize this as soon as we begin to read it because Paul talks about these various aspects of godly character. I mean, we are called, and in this conversion process, we're supposed to grow in the character of Christ. We're putting on holy, righteous, spiritual character. That's what we're about. And God expects us to do that. And to do that, we better look to the Master. We have to imitate Him. And so Paul says, "Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." And so, what about that calling? Verse 2, "With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

And notice the connection then, even though we are different, there's one Body, one spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in you all. But each one of us, Grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Yeah, we are given the gift of grace and God expects a return on that investment, doesn't He? I mean, He expects us to put on all of these things. And as we strive to imitate Christ, I mean, the topic of the day, we're not going to put down others. We're not going to minimize others. We're going to have a humble approach to life. We're going to appreciate the differences. And we're not going to major in the minors, right? We're not going to get off track that way. We're not going to have a superiority in our own thinking. We're not going to ridicule other's thoughts or opinions about different things or their ideas. We're not going to make mountains out of molehills.

And here, we're told, it doesn't happen automatically. Well, just because I'm converted, this should just automatically be, right? Wrong. It doesn't happen automatically. Verse 3, He says, "Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit…” and that doesn't mean well, it'd be nice if you tried to do this once in a while. No, you look up that word for endeavoring in the Greek. That means you're going to have to work on it, you're going to have to labor. It's going to take striving to have this kind of unity. So, you have to be diligent and you have to be zealous in your approach. And so, that brings questions to mind. Well, how much do I really imitate Christ? Have you ever thought of putting a list together and say, "Well, in this attribute, I'm doing okay but boy, do I need to change and grow over here?" You might say, "Well, it's kind of hard to put a list together." Well, here's one right here.

Ephesians 4, it's got a number of things, where it talks about lowliness, and gentleness, and long-suffering, bearing with one another. Am I really striving, and working, and laboring to be Christ-like in those aspects? And what are the things that I'm actually doing? What are my actions that reflect my thoughts when it comes to that? Can I justify the grade I give myself, by looking at the actions that follow? You know, that's where it's at. And so, imitating Christ certainly has to be key if we're going to build unity within the Church. And, of course, when you have this opinion about something, and I have that opinion, and you like chicken, and I like beef, sometimes that's it or you homeschool, and I don't, those kinds of things, you're a masker, and I'm an unmasker. I don't know, we get into so many silly things at times.

Another important aspect is that we have to tolerate each other. And not the kind of, "Okay fine. I'll put up with it." It can't be the grit your teeth kind of toleration that we're talking about here. There has to be a compassion. There has to be a care. There has to be some sense of patience with each other, which is kind of the opposite of being biased, opposite of being prejudiced, that we're willing to tolerate each other so that the Body can grow. I forgot to tell you to hold your place here in Romans. If you go back to Romans 14… Don't feel bad, I did the same thing this morning. I forgot to tell them to hold their place there. Romans 14, it points out to this very fact.

Romans 14, right at the very beginning of the chapter, talk about having a compassion and a toleration for each other. Paul tells the Romans, "Here's your perspective that you need to have." He says, "Receive one who is weak in the faith, but do not dispute over… or not to dispute over doubtful things." So we're to be acceptant, we're to be tolerant. We're not passing judgment. We're not putting down their opinions. We're not quarreling over these minor things. He says, "That's not worth it." And, of course, this is not saying we should accept sin, this is not saying, "Oh, put up with wrong teachings or false doctrines." That's not what it's talking about here at all. It's not even about opinions about things, doing this or that. It's not talking about keeping the commandments. It's not talking about those things at all.

And so, what we find here is, God says, "Don't debate with them. Don't argue with them. Have compassion and toleration for people and realize, you know, just because you think that doesn't mean that's what they should think. That shouldn't be forced upon them." In fact, what I think is not always right. Don't tell my wife that. You got to come to that point in our lives to recognize, just because this is my opinion, it doesn't mean it's always best. And so, when He says, "Receive one…" that means to bear with. Some translations even say that bear with them, have that compassion, in other words, have a type of an open-arms approach, ready to take people in, even though they may be different.

And I think that's so key. Because what does that focus on then? It focuses on the person rather than the difference. And I think that's so important is that it's about the person and not the opinion. And so, isn't that what God's about? Isn't He about people? He wants to bring all to repentance. That's what He's about. And so, I think when we begin to do that, and we begin to listen and tolerate each other, we might even find, wow, they got some interesting ideas. There's some interesting thoughts there. They may be even right, and we can actually benefit from those kinds of things.

And so, that's such a difference from the way that political correctness and the diversity of this world is all about. Because when you come down to it, in a sense, we do have to embrace diversity, not the way the world does. But if we're to succeed in the Church of God, I think that is a fifth step in this whole process, that embracing… Okay, right now, maybe we can't hug each other with this whole COVID thing, but that concept is that we have to hang on to each other. We have to welcome each other. We have to hold others valuable and be inclusive, don't we? We can't be exclusive. And so, it's a reminder that if we're going to come together as one, yes, we have to collectively then embrace the truth and be open and welcoming with each other, no matter what. And so, that may mean, "Oh, I actually probably should talk to those ABC students who were here for nine months and not just avoid them because yeah, they're going to go anyway later, what's the difference?"

No, we're open. And if we haven't spoken with somebody, make an effort to do that. Reach out to each other. Talk, and listen, and demonstrate you're caring. And I think, well, this time of the year, we say, thank you, but we need to do that often. Be thankful for people. Let them know. Isn't it nice to be appreciated? I think we all need a pat on the back once in a while. And so, this speaks to that very thing, receive one another, and do that in a positive way. Especially if someone's weak in the faith, be ready to embrace them, be ready to help them. And so, I can ask myself, do I really help others to feel appreciated? Do we alienate people or do we welcome them? Do we embrace them? Or maybe if they're going to be my friend, they got to conform exactly the way I think and what I feel about everything. It's not going to work that way, is it? It's not going to work. Now, of course, doctrine is a whole nother situation. But we do recognize that there's a difference between true doctrine. There's a difference between that and Biblical principle. And then, personal opinion, there's a huge difference between that and preference.

And so, we receive, we embrace, we take them in as a friend and a fellow brother, or sister in Christ. One translation even says we “grant them access to the heart.” Because it is a heart issue, isn't it? It's a heart issue. We are brothers and sisters. And so, we embrace the calling that we've been given. And collectively we have a duty and responsibility to each other. And so, if we don't know them, get to know them. If we don't understand them, begin to reach out, embrace them. And so that we can see the benefits that we all bring to the table because we never, never should divide. That was the lesson to Corinth. Never divide. Can't divide over the incidentals. It's ridiculous.

Now, there is one other passage that I thought might be a helpful one to look at that is kind of a summary of these various facets. And it's found over in Galatians 3:26. Galatians 3:26, I think is kind of a summary passage that emphasizes these various facets and begins to show the outcome. What are the outcomes of this kind of an approach within the Body of Christ? And Galatians 3, I think speaks to this very thing. Notice verse 26, it says, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ.” God's brought us together. We're a whole one, even though we're so very different. Verse 27, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ." So that's our identity. He says, "There's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ."

So even though we are different, and God created those differences and allows for differences, we're told here, together, the whole, the Body of Christ, is stronger than if every one of us were just yellow pencils and exactly alike. Because we can bring different facets of the wonderful attributes of God to the table. And that will make this beautiful jewel, as we bring our facets together to really make a shining example of the Church of God. And so, applying these five facets, if we actually do that, if we put these into the practice in our daily life, what happens? What's the result? I mean, if you've been taking notes, take a look at these five facets.

In fact, you'll see, there's an acronym here. If we understand, U, we nurture each other, N, we imitate Christ, I, we tolerate and accept each other, T, and we embrace one another, E. What's the result? We unite. And so, let's live our calling. Let's submit ourselves to the Spirit of God and take action because God has empowered us to do that very thing, that we can do all of these things. And as we put these into practice, we eliminate anything that separates us, and then we begin to realize that it's true in the Body of Christ, we can have unity in diversity.

[Steve Myers] How is your hearing? It's pretty good? I heard the story about an older man was getting concerned about his wife. He was worried she was kind of losing her hearing a little bit, so he thought, "I'm going to do an experiment." So one night, he came up to the kitchen and she was getting dinner ready. And so, he stood at the door, she didn't notice he was there and he said to her, "What's for dinner?" No response. So he came up a little bit closer behind her, and she didn't know he was there, so he said a little bit louder, he said, "What's for dinner?" No response. So he came up right behind her and he said, "What's for dinner?" And she said, for the third time, "Spaghetti."

So how is your hearing? Hearing is such an important attribute, to listen when we're spoken to. Now you won't find it in 1 Corinthians 12. Our A.B.C. students know 1 Corinthians 12 is what chapter? The spiritual gifts chapter. It's not a spiritual gift. Listening is something that we've all been given, something we all can do. It's kind of an ability or a skill that God has given everyone and yet, one, that we have to improve. And one you might not think of as being particularly spiritual but the connections to spirituality are undeniable.

Now when I was very young, I learned for the first time when my mother was our den mother, back in Cub Scouts. She used to do this thing that, you know how boys can be pretty rowdy when they're seven, eight years old, to get our attention. You know what she would do? In fact, if you've ever been to camp, the tradition continues. Leader would put up their hand and then everybody would start putting up their hand when they noticed the leader has their hand up. And why did they do? That they do that at camp, right? Shake your head. Yes, they do, they do. Well, why aren't your hands up? Okay, everybody's quiet now. Because it means listen up. Listen up, something important is coming. And so, the hand goes up, the mouth goes shut, and you pay attention.

And there's many times throughout Scripture that God does that very thing. In fact, He in a way, metaphorically, puts up His hand and says, "Listen up," in fact, I think He adds to it, He says, "Listen up and live." Listen up and live. We heard about the parables a little bit earlier, and it's interesting if you looked through those parables, whether you look in Matthew, Mark or Luke as well, it's interesting how many times a parable begins with, "Hear the story of," or concludes with the words, "He who has an ear, let him hear." I have to take some time maybe later today on the Sabbath to notice how many times Christ actually says that. In fact, if you see that connection to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, guess what is also said to those churches, to us by extension as well, it says, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Same type of thing. In a way, God raises His hand and says, "Listen up and live," because listening is something that is critical for all of us as God's people. He wants us to hear and listen.

And if we don't, how can we do the things that God wants us to do? I mean, is it fair to say, I can't be an encourager if I don't listen? How can I support someone if I really don't hear them out? Can I grow if I'm not willing to listen? What kind of husband am I, or what kind of wife are you if you're a lousy listener? Kind of make things pretty challenging if that's the case, that we're not a good listener. In fact, when it comes to being a disciple, can I truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ without the ability to listen? You see, I think it is such a critical thing. In order to fulfill the calling that God has given us, there is an intricate connection between listening and being a disciple, between listening and the Kingdom of God. Listening and, I think you can say, salvation. It is critical to all of these things. Even though it may not seem like it's that big a deal, the connection is undeniable.

And so, I thought it might be helpful to take some time this afternoon to recognize that connection between listening and truly being the kind of a disciple that God really wants us to be. And think about it for a moment. Can you break a connection between listening and, first of all, spiritual growth? Is there any connection between those two things? If I'm going to grow spiritually, if I'm going to bear fruit, do I have to be a good listener? You already guess the answer? The answer is yes. Yes, you do. In fact, one of the parables focuses on this. Maybe we haven't really read it before, it's a very familiar parable, we heard about the “Parable of the Sower.” If you'll turn, not to Matthew but turn over to Luke this time, Luke 8:4, discusses a very familiar parable. It's about the farmer who sows the seed, the one who is throwing out the seed to grow, we're familiar with this.

But what I'd like you to notice is something that may have escaped us a little bit when it came to this particular lesson that Christ was teaching. So if you go over to Luke 8, notice verse 4. Luke 8:4, Christ begins teaching this parable about the sower and we're familiar with it. Verse 5, he goes out to sow, to plant the seed and we know it went on all kinds of various places. So verse 6, "some fell on the rock but it withered away." "Some fell on thorns," verse 7, "and it sprang up in the weeds, the thorns choked it." Verse 8, "Some fell on good ground." And what happened to the stuff on the good ground? That seed? Well, it grew and it “yielded a crop” it says, "a hundredfold."

And then, what does Christ say? The end of verse 8, He says, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Now I don't know if the sower was planting corn and Christ was using a little pun about ears to hear or not, probably not. Probably not. But it's interesting to see this connection because what's the difference between these? We might say, "Well, the difference is you got weeds and thorns and you got good soil and bad soil. Well, that's the obvious difference.” Well, if we fast-forward just a little bit to Christ's explanation, look at verse 15 when He talks about the ones on the good ground. He says, "But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience." So what we begin to see here, a direct connection between spiritual growth, bearing fruit and listening to God, hearing His Word, hearing it sometimes with patience, as He said here, and then putting it into practice.

In fact, it's kind of interesting when you compare the record of the different parables in the different Gospels, if we see the same parable over in the gospel of Luke, let's go now to Matthew. Go over to Matthew, we compare these two versions because Matthew has a little bit of information that Luke doesn't include for some reason. So if we go over to Matthew 13, notice something interesting that is recorded here that isn't over there in the book of Luke. So if we look at Matthew 13, notice verse 9. Matthew 13:9, here we have the parable begin and, as we see the story, He says, "He who has an ear to hear, let him hear!” The disciples are wondering, "Well, why do you speak in parables?" Christ begins to explain that. Not the point of the sermon today, but it's interesting, in that explanation, He says, in verse 13, Matthew 13:13, "I speak in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand." And then, to add to this, He quotes the book of Isaiah. He quotes Isaiah 6:9, where He says… verse 14, "Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. And their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they've closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them."

And so we can't help but ask the question, "Are my eyes really open? Are my ears really hearing? Not just to perceive sounds but so that I can understand." I mean, Christ says to His followers, "Blessed are your eyes, they see, and your ears, they hear." And so, He begins to draw this connection, in this parable and the lesson, that it's not just about hearing because there's a vast difference between hearing and understanding. Or hearing and, sometimes the way the Word is used for listening, listening. Now it's kind of interesting when you see this word for hearing, some hear and they hear and others hear and they don't hear. It's referring to the understanding, but the same Greek word is used here but definitely different meanings. The meaning is different because when you hear, what kind of effort does it take to hear? Well you just do. You just do, it just happens, right? Hearing just simply happens.

So you might be around the house and you can hear the vacuum going or you can hear the dishwasher running. But if the television is on, that may take a little bit more. It takes a little bit more effort to listen or hear the T.V., especially if I'm going to grasp what's going on. You see what you do different in those things? Well, some might just listen, it's just there. When it comes to the hearing that Christ related to understanding, that's something you consciously have to decide to do. You consciously make a decision, I'm choosing to hear and understand and listen to those words. So what does it take? It takes concentration, it takes effort, it takes attention to do those very things, so that your brain then, instead of just saying, "Oh yeah that's the vacuum," it processes the meaning of the words and the sentences. And so we begin to understand and we see the intent of these things.

And so Christ once again, after quoting Isaiah, says a similar thing recorded here in Matthew. If you look down to verse 23, "He who receives seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it,” they put their brain in gear, allow God to work in them and through them and they get it, they understand and it goes to work in their lives. And so, what happens, it says, "it indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." And so, Christ draws this tremendous difference between just hearing something and then having a depth of understanding. And that understanding is critical. If we're going to grow spiritually, if we're going to produce, it's not good enough just, "Oh, yeah, I know that passage," but if it doesn't speak to you, we hear the voice of truth that speaks to us, if it doesn't impact our thinking, if our brain isn't engaged to say, "You know, that's something I have to do. I need to change. I can't keep doing that. I have to have that perception and attention to what the words and what the story is really all about, so that it impacts my life and I change and I change and I grow.” And fruit, spiritual fruit, is born from the perception and the understanding of what God gives us through His Word. And so God says, "Listen up and see how that word should impact your life," because it is intricately connected to spiritual growth.

All too often, we hear it but we may fall into the category of some of those that weren’t listening to Christ. Yeah, they hear it but they're not really getting it. They're not really getting it. In fact, I was reminded of a story, I read it in a commentary on the book of James by Vernon McGee. And he tells the story about the famous Greek philosopher Socrates and how so many people wanted to learn from this great philosopher. And so, he tells the story in this commentary about a young man who came to Socrates and he wanted him to be his teacher, he wanted to be a student. And so, this young man came to Socrates and just was going on and on about how great Socrates was and what a great teacher he would be and how much he wanted to be his student. And he kept talking and talking and talking and going on, so Socrates couldn't even get a word in edgewise. Until finally Socrates put his hand over his mouth to make him be quiet and he said, "I'll be your teacher but it's going to cost you twice as much."

The young man went, "Well, what do you mean it's going to cost me twice as much as everybody else?" He said, "Why would that be?" Socrates said, "Because I've got at least two things to teach you." He said, "First, you need to learn how to hold your tongue and listen. Then you need to learn to use your tongue correctly." And the point being, yeah, the Greeks loved eloquent speech. They used to love to hear the debates, they loved to hear the latest, they loved the speakers, the teachings and all those. But the point was you can't teach until you can listen, until you learn to listen you really don't have much to say. He was just going on and on and on and on and not saying a word. You ever find yourself maybe doing that? Sometimes we talk, we talk, talk, talk and chirp, chirp, chirp. Was that from The Music Man I think? But not much to say. And so, God certainly wants us to see this connection from listening to spiritual growth. And so, in a way, yes, God raises His hand and says, "Listen up and live."

It's also interesting to see this connection to understanding. Not only growth and bearing fruit but spiritual understanding is intricately connected to listening to God, listening to His Word and applying it in our lives. There's an interesting passage over in Colossians 1, that speaks to this second aspect of why we need to listen so intently to what God has for us in our life. Colossians 1:5, here Paul is speaking to God's people in Colossae. And it's interesting as he points out something that is so important as he speaks the truth of God's Word, speaking the gospel and the hope for mankind, God's plan, and how he connects it for the people to really give them a visual of the importance of spiritual understanding. Notice Colossians 1:5, we'll kind of jump in the middle of the thought here. He says, "because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you."

So, okay, yeah, I've heard the gospel, I know what the plan is, I know what God's purpose is. I know these things. But he also says this message “has gone out in all the world," and as a result, he says, in verse 6, "it is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth." Because what is he pointing out here? What he's saying, "Colossians, there was a time you recognized the fact you didn't understand God, you didn't know His way, you had little depth of spiritual understanding. But since you have heard, God has opened your mind to the truth, you let it impact your thinking, you basically admitted you didn't know anything." I mean, he really is saying listening starts this process of us admitting we don't know everything we should know. And, in fact, maybe taking you a step farther, it also admits there's a lot we don't know that we don't know. Does that make sense? There's a lot we don't know and we don't even know that we don't know it.

And he's telling the Colossians here, this is such a critical thing, Hearing the Word of truth and allowing it to work in your life through God's Holy Spirit, we can gain a depth of understanding. But the understanding alone isn't the purpose, just to have understanding. Yes, it's something that vital, something that is absolutely necessary, something that we need to ask God for that spiritual understanding. So we should do that even before we read the Bible. Can we ask God and petition Him, "God, help me as I'm studying Your Word, help me to grasp what You're telling me. Let me hear Your voice, speak to me so I can understand more effectively." And hopefully, you did that before you came to church today, that you prayed for understanding before services so that God's Word can impact your life, something that King David often prayed about, that God's Word would impact his thinking, that he could listen in a way that something he hadn't noticed before, something he hadn't thought about that applied to his life would jump out at him and impact his thinking, so he would change.

In fact, in the longest psalm in the Bible, Psalm 119, it's recorded for us that very thought. If you want to turn over to Psalm 119, let's notice verse 34. Notice this connection between listening and spiritual understanding, praying to God and asking for Him to impact our thinking through His voice, through His Word, through His plan. Psalm 119, somewhere right there near the very middle of your Bible. We noticed verse 34, notice the connection here, Psalm 119:34, it says, "Give me understanding," so we can see praying for that understanding. And as a result, "I shall keep your law. Yes, I shall observe it with my whole heart." And I think it's important. “Well, does that mean I pray to God and ask for understanding and now I see it, I figured this out, I know now?" See, what's a little off with those statements? Is it that I now have this great perception that I understand these things and I can grasp it? Now I know... No.

You see, what we recognize here when we asked God for understanding and we pray about that, like Psalm 119 here, "Give me understanding," we're recognizing something so important, that God is the source of understanding. We're praying and asking Him to remove the wrong ideas out of our minds, to get ourselves out of the way. It's not that I know, it's not that anyone else can grant us spiritual understanding. So it's not my Sabbath school teacher, if you had your lessons today, it's not a deacon or an elder or even the pastor or the ministry. No. God certainly can use them to help us understand but we got to go to the source. We've got to go to the source. The ability to understand God's Word and His way and His will is something that God grants to us. God opens our mind to His truth. And so, we can pray and ask God to help us with the understanding that we need to recognize so we do get it, so that we do see, so we have those eyes to see and ears to hear. Because if we think we already know, we're not really getting it.

And I think those of us who have been parents, you understand this, right? I mean you've got kids or you've had kids, maybe they're grown up now. Has this ever happened to you? "All right, this is what I want you to do," and you just start telling them and they start running off to do it. It's like, "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Listen to all the instructions first before you run off and try to do the wrong thing." Because that's what happens. And I think, in a way, God wants us to recognize we're His kids, we're His children, we're God's children, we shouldn't want to miss out. If we think we already know, "Oh, I know that, I know, I know, I know, I know," and then we go and we do the wrong thing. And we're like our little kids that they thought they got it, they thought they listened well enough but then they missed the point. You see, and I think if we see ourselves as God's children, we're going to be looking to God, we're going to be understanding we need His direction, we need His insight, we need God's spiritual understanding given to us, so that we can draw the right concepts from His word, so we can understand these things then and see how they fit in our life.

In fact, He kind of builds on that a little bit later in this psalm, if you turn over a page or so to verse 144. Psalm 119:144. We see the impact of truly listening as a child of God. He says, "The righteousness of Your testimonies is everlasting; give me understanding, and I will live." Give me understanding. He couldn't work it up on his own. No, that wasn't going to happen. Through God's will, through His testimonies and He opens our mind, we can live. We can live, we can understand. And so, God does say then, "Little children, listen up. Listen up, this is critical, this is important. This is important." Because what it begins to open up, I think, is a third aspect that is so critical as well. When we recognize this, how can I live? How can I have eternal life? How can I be a part of God's family? I have to have a relationship with Him, I have to know Him. God has to be my Father, Christ has to be my elder Brother. I have to know them intimately. And listening develops relationships.

Listening develops relationship. How do you get to know anybody? How do you get to know anybody? I mean, through listening, conversation, we gain an understanding. We understand each other. And so, we learn information about them, we hear their experiences, we know, you know, how old they are, what their family is like. We understand about each other. And the challenge is, especially for us in this world that we live in, oftentimes, we don't do this. We don't really develop the relationships that we should. And it's a detriment in the congregation of God, it's detriment to all of us when we don't really know each other. We don't take the time because we live in this Facebook world, this Twitter limited number of characters kind of a world, or a soundbite kind of world, that's how we live. And so, "Give it to me in a nutshell and that's good enough. Let's go on."

But that's not what God wants. God isn't into this Facebook kind of world in that sense. Right? In fact, I read an interesting article that Facebook is destroying the world. And it was basically pointing that very fact out, that it's a bigger detriment to relationships than anything else. Because we think we can summarize a life in a picture, "Look at my beautiful picture." "Boy, they must have everything together. Look at how beautiful they are, they're happy, they're smiling." And yet, underlying is all these problems and difficulties. But I can put a pretty face on it and stamp it with the smiley face and everything's great. But that's not the case and God doesn't want us to just put a smiley face on things.

And the challenge then is how do we develop relationships in this world that we live in where true listening is really declining? Because when you listen, you're supposed to concentrate, you're supposed to focus, you're not supposed to be thinking of other things or looking at my phone and flipping through the next notification. Not thinking about “What's happening at volleyball tonight and who's our first team that we play and what's going on with that?” And, "Wow, what's on my to-do list? And after Sabbath, I got to get this done." No, we can't do that. God doesn't want… how are we going to develop a relationship with God and focus on what His Word says and speaks to us if that's where we're at? Not going to happen. It's not going to happen.

Or sometimes we may fall into another problem. How many of us have selective hearing? Yeah, we have selective hearing. Yeah, I've been accused of that, my wife complains that I never listen to her or something like that she says. I'm not exactly sure. Or she insists that I have this selective hearing. It's kind of a running joke in the house, if she really wants to get my attention, she starts with something about, "Well, the Green Bay Packers did this," it's like, "What did you say? What was that?" And I begin to start paying more attention to that if she wants a reply out of me. Or sometimes it's like, "Didn't you hear anything that I've said?" And I'll think, "That's a strange way to start a conversation. Why would you begin that way?"

Now the challenge is, are we that way when it comes to our spiritual relationship with God? It's like, "God, why are you starting there for? What was that all about?" You know, I think it reflects that we have this deep need that we need to be heard. And when we recognize the fact that we need to hear God, we can begin to recognize, "Boy, when somebody's not listening to us," you're trying to have a conversation with someone and they're like, "Well, I don't know. Let's see, is there anybody else I can talk to?" How do you feel when that happens?
Oh, I feel loved. I feel like they really care about me when they're looking at their watch and can't wait to get on to the next story.” No, you don't feel people care. And it's interesting when you consider it, "All right, developing relationships that sounds kind of mm-hmm. Guys especially sounds more feminine. I don't know if I'm into that kind of thing." But wait a second. When you really get down to it, being listened to is really a lot like being loved because it's showing somebody cares about you. When you listen and you show that concern, you show that compassion, you show that care, you're showing love. You're showing love.

And, of course, the fact is God always listens to us. God is always ready and willing and able to show us love and care and concern. And there are so many passages we could turn to to show that God is reaching out, striving to develop that relationship with us and sometimes we're like, "Yeah, I know, God, but, you know, I'm kind of in a hurry and I got this going and it’s so busy. You know how life is," and we end up in that frame of mind. And sometimes you just feel like nobody's listening. Is God really listening? Absolutely. Absolutely.

I was reminded of this, I was reading an interesting story, it was in a book called 40 Days of Encouragement. It was written by an author named Terry Slachter. And he was writing about Franklin Roosevelt, F.D.R., and all these welcoming parties, all these banquets that he would have to have and go through, all these various lines of meeting, dignitaries and people and senators and all this sort of thing. And I'm not sure if the story is true or not but he tells the story as though it's a true thing, that F.D.R. basically got to the point, he felt nobody in those lines have paid a bit of attention to what he said because they were always telling him how great he was and what he was doing and all those kinds of things.

And so, one day after going through this feeling like nobody really cared, he decided to have a little experiment. So there was this big welcoming line that everybody wanted to meet him at the White House and so he decided he'd try something totally different. So, as he was introduced to someone, the very first person, he decided, "I'm going to say the same thing to everybody and see what happens." So he met the first person and he mentioned kind of quietly, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." They said, "Well, it's good to meet you. I'm really glad. I've looked forward to the time that I could come and see you." And then, he said it to the next person, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." "Marvelous. Keep up the good work. We're so proud of what you're doing." "I murdered my grandmother this morning." "Bless you, sir. You are such an honor to meet and it's so wonderful I finally got this… I've always wanted to meet…" And this went on and on and on and on till he finally gets to the end of the line and supposedly there was the ambassador from Bolivia. And he says to him, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." And the Bolivian ambassador kind of looked at him kind of funny and said, "I'll bet she deserved it."

Now it sounds kind of like a phony story but he tells it as though it's true. And I think, if nothing else, it certainly tells us when we feel somebody's just, you know, patting us on the head and say, "Oh, it's nice to see you. I hope things are great. You know, how are things?" "They're terrible." "Well, good. I'm glad it's going well." You know, it does reflect whether we care or not about people. And so, when we recognize that, listening means we're paying attention to that person. And it's building trust, it builds trust. Listening develops relationships by building trust. Now can we trust God? I mean, does God give us full attention or not? You see, I think it's no different that when we focus on someone, you know, if I'm going to have a conversation with my wife, I better shut my laptop, I better turn off the TV, put down the phone face down and focus. Right? And focus because it shows I'm not interjecting, "Oh, well, wait." No, it's not the time for my opinions or my judgment or my advice. It's time to… I can't finish her sentences, I'm not supposed to do that. No, that's not good. I'm showing I care and that I trust, she can trust me. She's got a confidence that I have her best interests at heart. And that's exactly what God does. We can trust God no matter what. No matter what.

In fact, there's an amazing example as Paul wrote to Timothy, and you think about that relationship, that's kind of an interesting one. We have the elder statesman, the elder apostle Paul and this young minister Timothy, a young man that he met when he was just a little teenager. Paul kind of took him under his wing and they built this amazing relationship. And over in 2 Timothy 1, this relationship that they have is even built on I think a stronger foundation, in a sense, as Paul is relating to Timothy some of the challenges that he's had. And even though you look at the situation that Paul was going through and the difficulties, he's explaining to Timothy that there's such a foundation of trust between God and Paul, that Paul wasn't worried about it. It didn't impact Paul to lose his faith. And so, he's telling Timothy about this, I think, to help build up Timothy as well.

So in 2 Timothy 1, notice verse 12. I'm going to read this out of the New Living, it might be just a little different than your version, but New Living, 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul says, "For this reason, I also suffer these things," because being imprisoned that was a terrible thing. And yet, Paul says, "I'm not ashamed." Why? He says, "For I know whom I have believed." In other words, “I'm not just acquainted with God,” it's not just like, "Yeah, I kind of know Him sort of. I mean He's a Facebook friend but He's not really that close.” “No, it's not that I'm just acquainted, I know Him. I know whom I believe and I'm convinced, there's no doubt, there's no concern in my mind, there is no doubt, I am convinced that He's able to guard what I've entrusted to Him until that day." And, of course, Paul entrusted his whole life, his whole being, not only his ministry but everything, everything about him he trusted God. He entrusted himself to God. So he had that absolute confidence, it was unshakable confidence and trust that he had in God.

And he's telling Timothy that the relationship between God and Paul was built on trust. Not so much that God could trust Paul, but it was undoubted that Paul could trust God. And kind of reminiscent of Psalm 25:3, where we're told, "No one that hopes in You God will ever be put to shame." You see, we have a great God who is on our side, who we can trust. And, of course, when you think of the word trust, maybe a more spiritual word comes to mind. When you think of confidence and having an assurance, what we can count on. Is there a word that maybe comes to mind? You know, maybe the word faith. Because I think God raises His hand, in a way, and says, "Listen up. Live, build your faith, increase your faith." And listening builds faith. It increases confidence, it can increase and I think expound commitment and dedication as well.

When you think about faith, maybe there's a chapter in the Bible that comes to mind. Well, before we go there, let's go a couple of pages before that, in Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2, right at the very beginning of that section of Hebrews, notice this connection between growing in faith and truly listening to God, truly listening. Hebrews 2:1, says, "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed” what is earnest heed? I've really got to pay attention to this, give the earnest, really listen up. Therefore, "give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away." If we're going to listen up and live, we better really focus, really recognize, or we could end up somewhere else. Verse 2, he says, "For if the word spoken through angels prove steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience receives a just reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"

So there's an undeniable connection between listening, paying the earnest heed, hearing the word that's spoken and whether or not we're going to neglect our salvation, whether we're going to drift away from the truth, whether we're going to do the things that aren't appropriate for us as disciples of Christ. He says, "These things were first spoken by the Lord, that was confirmed to us by those who heard him." And so, we see this connection between listening and hearing and understanding and application as well. And so it starts with that, "Can I count on who spoke these things? Can I have confidence in that? Is this something that I can certainly, absolutely, undeniably reflect on and have this confidence and faith that it's true?" Who backs it up? Well, God does. And it's, yes, absolutely. If you go over to Hebrews 11 then, we're reminded of this faith and this connection to listening and where that faith is really founded in that sense.

So when we see what Hebrews reminds us of in Hebrews 11, right at the very beginning of that chapter, it says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” And it goes on and discusses these things. “By faith we understand” well, when we recognize these things, we have a confidence. We have an absolute conviction they're true, that it is going to happen, so we have substance, we have evidence. And where is that based? Not that I work this up, not that it's dependent only on me, I recognize if God said it, God promised it, God's going to bring. I have faith and confidence in Him. I believe Him. He spoke this Word, it's recorded for me and I give the earnest heed to that Word and I can trust God. And He can increase my faith because, first and foremost, God is faithful. God is faithful. And so, because God is faithful, I can have faith in Him. Because God is faithful, I can have confidence in the things I can't see. "I can't see it. But you know, God, I trust You and I know You. And You promised this. And even though I can't see it, I know it's real. I know it's real. And so, I can have the trust in You. I can have that trust in You."

Because I think it's just a page or two later here in chapter 13. Chapter 13, verse 5, he points out something, I think, that becomes critical then. What can I have faith in? Well, at the end of verse 5, it says, "He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you or forsake you.' So we may boldly say.” in faith, in confidence, in assurance, in commitment, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear." What can my boss do to me? “What can man do to me?” What can anyone do to me? Because I trust, I have faith, I have a relationship with God and He can increase my confidence in Him because He's not going anywhere. He’s telling me, "I'm not going to let you down. I'm never going to walk off and leave you. Not going to happen. I'll always be there." I think if you look that up in The Message, He actually says something like that, "I'll never let you down and I'm not going anywhere. Not walking off and leaving you."

And so, we can have an increase of faith recognizing we have a faithful God who is there, who speaks to us, and speaks words of life in this dead world. He speaks life to us. In fact, God does speak. We sing that song, don't we? “God speaks to us.” Are we listening? Are we listening? Because it should have an impact more than just the hearing. Certainly, Paul said the similar thing to the Romans, Romans 10. Romans 10 reminds us of where it begins, Romans 10, let's see where should we begin. How about verse 14? Romans 10:14, a familiar passage, as we're reminded, "How shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?" Well, if you don't believe it, you don't believe it. It says, "How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach unless they're sent?" So we see this connection with listening, with listening. Verse 16, "No, not everyone obeys the gospel," and a quote from Isaiah again, "Lord, who has believed our report?" But what's the factor that really makes all the difference? Well, verse 17, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

And so, it's not just the audible sounds, not just reading the Word but it's what effect that Word has on us so that we have true understanding so that it builds our faith, it builds that dedication that we have for God. Yes, it says, "Have they not heard? Yes, indeed: ‘Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’" The gospel is going out, yes, but, all too often, people hear but they're not hearing. But for us, it should have that impact in our life that it changes who we are and we increase our faith. Because God does, in a way, raise up His hand and say, "Listen up. Listen up and live," because this should motivate us to action. Listening should impact us to godly action and that's really the goal that God has in mind for us. It's not just the fact that we understand or we know things, it's not just the fact that we have great faith. But that faith has to be put into action. We have to act on that faith, we have to live that faith. Because when you consider those types of things, we better do the Word. Right? We have to be doers. We have to be doers.

You might see why I was reading James' commentary. James 1 talks about that, doesn't it? James 1, look at verse 19. If we allow God to work in our life and we're really hearing to understand, listening leads to godly action. Listening leads to godly action, James certainly bears that point out. James 1:19, right at the very beginning of this general letter that James writes, he says, "My beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." You see, when we're ready to listen, the result is godly actually. If we're not ready to listen, likelihood of something going wrong after that is going to definitely increase. He says, "If we're not, we might be quick to wrath," and what does he say? "The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." And so, listening to the Word of God, and the application of that Word of God says we will have the help we need, verse 21, "to lay aside filthiness, the overflow of wickedness."

And that Word then by listening and seeking to understand how it applies to us, it says, it's implanted, “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” And this connection to eternal life that it impacts our life not just that we know, not just that we understand, but that we begin to live that way. And so he says, verse 22, "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only," because, otherwise, we're deceived. “If you're a hearer of the word and not a doer,” well, you're like this guy that looks in the mirror, sees his face, “goes away and forgets what kind of man he was. But” verse 25, "he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it," yeah, that ongoing action, godly actions that are ongoing, "continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer" not a selective hearer. Not that they say, "Well, that doesn't apply to me. Boy, that was an interesting sermon but I hope they got it." They're not that kind of hearer “but a doer of the work,” it says, "this one will be blessed in what he does.” So it needs to turn into action in our lives where we're looking into these things. That's what we're to be doing, be doers of the Word.

"Look perfectly," it says, "look into the perfect law of liberty." And that's kind of a listening kind of thing as well. If you look up the Greek word here, I was reminded of my grandfather. Grandfather was hard of hearing and so you know what he would do when he wanted to hear something? He leaned over and say, What?" You put your hand to your ear like grandpa used to do. Well, "Looks into," really carries that kind of a meaning, "I'm bending over trying to understand." Which points to us. Is that the kind of hearer that we are? That we are so intent on what God has in mind for us in our life that we're bending over and we want to get every word, we want to understand it, we want to apply it in our life. That's the kind of hearer we're supposed to be, one that's looking into God's Word, and then continuing in and not forgetting about it, not taking it lightly but looking intently into that Word, examining that Word to see the intent for me. Because if I'm just have a casual listener, "It doesn't matter that much, I guess that applies to somebody else," you know, we see that instead of seeing how it applies to us.

And so, certainly, we can't be that way. And maybe that's what we need to do. We need to stoop over, just a little bit and look at our own life, "Is there evidence of the fact that I am a forgetful hearer in my life?" And that can show itself in so many different ways. It can show itself in attitudes. It can show in ourselves, "What just came to my mind? What am I thinking? Have I really put that Word in an implanted way? Is that Word truly implanted in my mind, in my heart, so that's what comes out of me? Are the relationships in my life built on that kind of hearing and listening?" You see, those are the types of questions that I think we really need to ask ourselves. Because I think what James is telling us here, there's this intricate connection between listening and truly choosing to listen and then acting upon what we've heard. Or maybe to say it a little bit differently, listening is a choice that requires action. Listening is a choice that requires action.

It's nice to come here today and feel good about life and “I heard the Word.” But if we don't do anything, it doesn't impact us in that way, well, what's happened? Well, nothing, nothing's happened. And so, we certainly have to make sure that we're choosing to listen and that we're then having the required action. So what do we have to do? Well, we've got to… well, it's like shutting down the computer, turning off the T.V., turning over the phone. I have to intentionally turn away from every distraction that would cause me to slip up or trip, and I've got to turn toward God and His Word and His way and show Him that I am choosing to pay attention to Him. God has got His hand up for me and He's saying, "Listen up, listen up, because if you want to grow spiritually, you've got to hear Me out. You want deeper spiritual understanding? Listen to understand. If we're going to grow in our relationship, I'm reaching out to you but you're turning your back on Me, you're not listening. I want a relationship with you.” That's what God wants. But what is our reaction? Do we have the Facebook, Twitter response to God? He says, "No, don't do that. I want to build your faith, you need to increase your faith. I'm a faithful God who is reaching out to you."

And, of course, when we respond, it turns into action in our life. And so perhaps, as we think about these things this week, something we can certainly pray about. We can certainly pray and ask God, "Open my ears, open my spiritual… not just these ears, but my spiritual ears to help me to really listen to You. Help me to hear Your voice. Help me to hear Your voice as You speak to me through Your Word, help me hear Your voice as I talk with others, as I recognize You and Your guidance from other people. Help me with Your insights, help me with Your strengths, let me see Your values in my life. Help me to see the words that You speak with an understanding that I've never had before, so that, ultimately, it helps me to do, it helps me put those things into action."

Because God... Well, doesn't Christ stand at the door and knock? Are we going to open and truly listen? Well, if we're going to, we've got to get that door open and listen with our hearts and our minds and then allow that to be put into action. Maybe thinking about it just a little bit differently as we conclude. John 14:15 says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." "If you love Me, keep My commandments." And maybe if we put that into other words, in a way, it's saying, "Listen to what I say and prove that you heard it by doing what I requested." Isn't that really what Christ is saying here? "If you love Me, keep My… Listen to what I say and prove that you actually heard it and understood it by doing what I ask." Or maybe just a little bit differently, "Listen up and live."