By Reverend J. Loren Russell
Romans 10:14-21 (v. 17) NKJV
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
The Apostle Paul wrote this letter and took great care to give an orderly and logical progression of theological truth so that he would not misdirect, misinform, or misguide his readers. He was being steadfast in his effort to make sure that the message of the cross was clear because the eternal souls of the people were at stake. Early in the epistle, he tells his readers to put on their listening ears and listen for the word of God.
One of my favorite daily devotionals is What Every Christian Ought to Know Day by Day. Author Adrian Rogers says that true biblical faith is “rooted not only in knowing God, but in hearing from the God that you know” (pg. 241). To know God is to be able to distinguish His voice from the chatter of many people, and the misleading verbosity of many books.
Cultivating your listening skills means that you must learn to listen in everything that you do. You must listen while you are reading so that you can weed out the noise and hear His voice. You must listen when you’re socializing to hear Him speak through believers and non-believers alike. You must learn to listen when walking down the street or riding on a train, or a bus, or in a cab, or in your car. You must cultivate the art of listening so that you can hear the voice of God everywhere.
The importance of hearing the voice of God is given in the first verse of the chapter, “that they may be saved.” It’s the salvation of the eternal soul of the individual that Paul is most concerned. If hearing the voice of God saves souls, we simply must put on our listening ears.
Be Blessed!
Rev. J. Loren Russell is an associate minister at Goodwill Baptist Church and is the spiritual leader of the Evangelical Church of God, both in the Bronx, President/CEO of The JLR Company/J Loren R Consulting, LLC for Church Financial & Strategic Consulting (718-328-8096) and is the producer and host of “Matters of Faith – The Radio Show” on Monday nights from 8:00 – 10:00 PM on Facebook Live. Be sure to ‘Friend’ the Matters of Faith YouTube Channel. Email us at mattersoffaith.mof@gmail.com. Order your copy of Matters of Faith: The eBook at www.smashwords.com/books/view/993177.
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