Eager to Learn

4:9 The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

You’ve heard the expression, "I’m all ears." This is the attitude God wants us to have toward Him. On the Mount of Transfiguration, God spoke audibly out of the cloud, saying to the disciples, "This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!" (Matt.17:5)

One of the ways God wants us to listen to Him is by listening to His representatives in our lives:

"Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." (Heb.13:7)

But as you can see in this verse and in Phil.4:9, listening to someone is more than paying attention to their teachings. It also involves carefully watching and listening to their lives:

"The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things."

A person could not obey this command who was not carefully watching and listening for the voice of God in the life of Paul. God is speaking to us as well. Are we listening? He is speaking through teachers, through parents, through godly friends, through the Bible, through preachers, through books, through the creation. Are we paying attention? Are we straining to hear His message?

You can see this spirit of attentiveness in Mary of Bethany, who sat at the feet of Jesus listening to His words, soaking it all in (Luke 10:39).

Sometimes God speaks with a crash and everyone hears it, whether they like it or not (e.g. Rev.6:12-17; Luke 17:22-24). Other times, God speaks with a whisper, and only those who are geared in will hear it (e.g. 1Kings 19:11ff.; John 12:28-29). We don’t want to be those who only hear God’s crashes but miss His whispers. It’s not enough to be willing to hear what God has to say to us. We must so long to hear Him that our ears are straining to hear His every whisper.

Years ago our family saw a good (old) movie called "The Well." In it a wandering young girl falls into an old abandoned well. Suspecting she is in the well, the searchers call down, but hear no response. So, one of the men of the town gets a high-powered amplification system and lowers a microphone down the hole until it can go no further. Then he turns the volume all the way up and, while someone calls down, the girl’s family crowds around the speaker to see if they hear any response.

This is the way we need to be listening for God’s voice, not wanting to miss a word. His word is our life!

* Psalm 119:82 "My eyes fail with longing for Your word."
* Psalm 119:20 "My soul is crushed with longing after Your ordinances at all times."
* Psalm 119:131 "I opened my mouth wide and panted, for I longed for Your commandments."

Sure, your teachers/leaders are imperfect. We’re all stuck with sinners as leaders. But everyone of us has people in our lives who have something to teach us and show us about God (most of us have many). And we need to be eager and hungry to learn it.

Wisdom cries out, “Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts." (Prov.8:34)

"How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night." (Psalm 1:1-2)

Father, Your word is more desirable than much fine gold, and sweeter than the drippings of the honeycomb. In keeping it there is great reward. Indeed, Your word is life. Help me to yearn for it. Create in me a voracious appetite for Your wisdom. Help me to give heed to the godly voices You have placed around me, that I may gather a rich harvest of understanding and knowledge, in order that I may live a Christ-like life before You.