Some people are too lazy to listen. Or maybe they just don’t know how to be attentive to things.
As a youngster I was sent by my Mum to a small shop about a mile away to buy several things she needed. I had been sent to the neighbour to borrow things, but this was my first time sent to a shop. My mum told me what she wanted and gave me the money.
I set off on the adventure and finally arrived at the store. I waited until other customers were served, then the owner leaned over the counter to ask me what I wanted. I could not remember. I stammered for a while and then said I had to go back and ask my Mum. The man smiled as I turned and went home.
I had not yet learned to really pay attention and to lock things in mind. However, my mother resorted to writing her needs on a piece of paper and that saved my young brain from having to remember.
At other times over the years my mum or dad would call me to account over something I was supposed to do, or some way I was supposed to do it. They would say something like, “I told you what to do”, or “I told you how I wanted it done”. There is something powerful about being ‘told’.
My problem was that I didn’t realise how important instructions were or I didn’t dedicate myself sufficiently to follow them.
Over the years I learned to pay attention to what I was told, such as when being given instructions, or having some project explained to me. My older brother assured me that in school, if I paid attention to what the teacher taught the first time, I wouldn’t have to do so much homework and study. I liked the idea of not having to study, so I trained myself to pay attention in class.
Jesus frequently said, “I told you”. In saying that He pointed out that once something has been said it has an official standing and doesn’t need to be said again. The onus is on the hearer to pay attention and act appropriately in response.
“I have told you before it comes, so when it does come to pass, you may believe.” John 14:29
“These things I have told you, that in me you may have peace.” John 16:33
“If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how then will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” John 3:12
Sadly, many Christians are like I was as a child. They hear the words, but are not really listening. They think they will remember but they have not truly committed themselves to hearing, understanding and obeying. Things quickly slip from mind and they revert to what suits them.
Jesus’ words to us are amazingly powerful. They are Spirit and Life to us.
“It is the spirit that makes alive. The flesh yields no benefit. The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life.” John 6:36
So it’s quite inappropriate to treat them like white noise or the ramblings of a radio playing in the background. Christ’s words to us are the most vitally important words we can hear.
Beware the habit of discounting what you hear. Researchers suggest that when we choose to ignore something we train our brain to turn off all attention to it. That’s how we can stop hearing traffic or other unwanted noises, and how parents can turn off to the whining cry of their children.
However, that’s a danger when it comes to listening to God. If you have stopped paying attention to God’s Word or preaching, daydreaming instead of listening, your brain concludes it can turn off to that thing every time it comes up.
If you have fallen into that trap you need to consciously address the problem. Ask God to forgive you for devaluing His Word and the preaching of His Word. You can even tell your mind to pay attention, such as by saying out loud, “The Word of God is very valuable to me and I always want to pay attention to what God is saying.”
The other problem you face is that you can reject what you hear because you don’t want to hear it. When Jesus healed a man born blind the religious leaders were troubled. They interviewed the man, probably hoping to find some way to discount the miracle, so they could reject Jesus. When they asked the man to go over the details one more time he used the phrase “I told you” in his reply.
“He answered them, I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” John 9:27
They had heard about the miracle but did not want to believe. They had been told, but something inside them, unbelief, blocked them accepting the facts.
That might be happening to you, too. God may be speaking various things to you, but you shut them down and won’t hear, even though God could say, “I told you”.
Once we find a way to avoid a Bible truth we have closed our ears so we will not hear. There are those who excuse their disobedience to God’s Word, such as their rebellion against parents, independence, self-will, moral compromise, rejection of selected Bible truths, love for the world, etc. Once they have gone down that path they have an automatic switch-off when those things they have rejected come up.
There are those who reject salvation, and others who reject the work of the Holy Spirit, while others reject God’s order in the home, and others reject God’s moral standards.
“They refused to listen and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears, so they would not hear.” Zechariah 7:11
Friends, God has spoken and Jesus is speaking into your life. Make sure you have not blocked your ears and stopped listening. When you are called to account before God you will have no excuse for what you have done, for God will say to you, I Told You.
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