The Shepherd’s voice and the lamb’s ears (Part-1)

From the beginning to the end, from Genesis to Revelation, God asks one important thing from us, especially from the church, that is “give!” He does not ask for our money, not the gold, not our strength, not our talents, he asks something more vital than that, sometimes with love, sometimes with sorrow and he rebukes us sometimes to “give, give, give!” He wants us to give our ears and listen to him. Giving the rest to him is easy but listening to his words is more difficult. Listening has a meaning beyond just heeding.

“But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” Adam heard what God said. But he listened to his wife, who picked and ate the fruit and told him to eat it too.

‘To Adam He said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.” ‘ (Gen 3:17)

We hear the words of God, ‘Do not look at your opposite gender with lust.’ But we fall for the flesh that attracts us without words. This is the difference between hearing and listening.

We can prove wheather our God is our master or not, only by listening to him, not just by worshipping him with our lips. The fall of either a man or a church begins when he/it stops listening to God.

In the Old Testament, from Moses to all the prophets, judges, priests, and God fearing Kings, the word of God was resonated to the people of Israel. In the days when they listened to God’s words, they were blessed and they prospered. But they were ruined by their foes, when they stopped listening to God’s words ( Deut 6:3, Levi 26:21)

To know the importance of listening, we shall retrace to the history to learn the vital lesson.

Garden of Eden..

God made a beautiful relationship between him and man as loveable as a poetry. Adam must have learned the knowledge of good and bad only through God. When he lives in this agreement, he would live forever and ever by eating the fruit of life. But he was given another option, which is, ‘I do not need God to know the knowledge of good and bad, I shall be my own king to choose between good and bad.’ God did not conceal this truth from him and he also warned him of the consequences of the other choice.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”(Genesis 2:16-17)

Unfortunately, from then till now, man does not want to listen to God. All his choices are pessimistic. We see the consequences of those choices today. God would be distraught to see the adversity of today’s generation, brutal judgements, misfortunate deaths, and the word he would sorrowfully say would be,

“Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel!” (Psalm 81:8)

Now, let us travel forward, from the history of Eden Garden to another Garden more breathtaking and exquisite..

‘Kingdom of Heaven..’

The wonder and charm behind the beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven, is the reconciliation of God and man through the cross. Yes, the reconciliation is far better than the relationship that existed between God and Adam.

This is a relationship as that of a father and a son..

The bridge that connects this relationship is the voice of the shepherd and the ears of the lamb. Now, God does not talk to us through prophets but he himself talks to us individually.

“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” (John 10:2-5)

Look at the beauty of the Kingdom of Heaven! The Shepherd talks to the Flock. The flock listens to their shepherd, and it has no doubt if it listens to their shepherd or to their enemy. Because the flock knows its shepherd and is known by its shepherd (John 10:15). But, today in churches, there are numerous people who live with this doubt. They do not know if they are listening to the voice of God or Satan. They are dependent on their pastors for everything, they are taught to be dependent as well. Or else, they mail to the preachers of TV channels. We know our pastors, celebrity pastors, but do we know our shepherd? Have we listened to his voice? Do we know his voice?

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong.”(Ecclesiastes 5:1)

I do not ask you to give up on your pastors. The book of Ephesians says, “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” (Ephesians 4:11-12) In these last days of the world, when many deceive many, there are numerous false prophets among us who captivate us from listening to God . Therefore, we ought to be cautious and shrewd and identify the fake and retract from them. God appreciates and loves the ones with knowledge and prudence.

“I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.”(Revelation 2:2)

In the Kingdom of Heaven, listening to God is the most crucial process. Whenever Christ talked about the importance of the Kingdom of Heaven, he said one word without forgetting it, “whoever has ears, let them hear” ( Matt 11:15, 13:9, Mark 4:9, Luke 8:8)

When the Holy Ghost showed the revelation, in the end of each discourse, he said, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev 1,2,3)

When Christ Jesus visited the house of his friend, Lazarus, among his two sisters, the one called Martha was doing her chores relentlessly, whereas his another sister Mary sat down near the feet of Christ and listened to him. When Martha complained against Mary to Christ, he gave her a beautiful yet deep answer:

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

We need only one essential thing, that is listening to the most high and holy shepherd! This is the part that is better and will not be taken away us!!