May 2, 2019
Revelation 3:14-22 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Are you an active listener in your relationships? We all face difficulties in communicating well. Active listening requires the listener to fully concentrate on what is being shared, pause to comprehend, respond to do something with the information, and then remember what that person has said because it is important to him or her. This type of listening is essential if we are going to successfully fulfill commitments. Active listening is truly essential for personal growth; it requires an honest assessment of what this information means for one’s life and relationships.
God’s Word requires active listening. Scripture teaches, “What God has said isn’t only alive and active! It is sharper than any double-edged sword. His Word can cut through our spirits and souls and through our joints and marrow, until it discovers the desires and thoughts of our hearts. Nothing is hidden from God! He sees through everything, and we will have to tell him the truth.” (Heb 4:12-13). Throughout the Word of God we are commissioned to listen; actively listen. This is about your relationship in Christ—the Living Word. When you come to read and listen to the Word are you taking time to fully concentrate, comprehend, respond, and remember what has been shared?
In our lesson today, Jesus is addressing the Church at Laodicea; they think they can see but they are blind to the Truth. Will the people of God listen to the Voice of Truth? In this reading, the Truth is getting ready to pass judgment on the Church. Remember, the writings, from the Book of Revelation, are for the Church of all time. Jesus shares the Word with the Apostle John because the Lord knows every heart and many hearts are far from him. The Lord is grieved by the worldliness of his Church. Because Jesus loves us so much, he tells it like it is. To change hearts all the people of God need to do is repent and practice active listening.
Revelation 3:14-22 The Letter to Laodicea
14 This is what you must write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
I am the one called Amen (Truth)! I am the faithful and true witness and the source of God’s creation. Listen to what I say.
15 I know everything you have done, and you are not cold or hot. I wish you were either one or the other. 16 But since you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 You claim to be rich and successful and to have everything you need. But you don’t know how bad off you are. You are pitiful, poor, blind, and naked (void of true spiritual substance).
18 Buy your gold from me. It has been refined in a fire, and it will make you rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them and you can cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy medicine for your eyes, so that you will be able to see (turn to see grace and righteousness).
19 I correct and punish everyone I love. So make up your minds to turn away from your sins. 20 Listen! I am standing and knocking at your door. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will eat together. 21 Everyone who wins the victory will sit with me on my throne, just as I won the victory and sat with my Father on his throne.
22 If you have ears, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for enabling me to hear what you are saying in your Word and helping me to put the Wisdom you have shared into practice. Grace is a gift you gave, so I can live to please you. I want to be spiritually passionate for the Truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.