Listening

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LISTENING

Acts 3:17-23

17 "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you — even Jesus. 21 He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22 For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.'  

NIV

We considered the time of refreshing that comes from the Lord for those who repent and turn to God and that in doing so our sins are wiped out which means complete, as with all our sins, past, present, and future, written on a whiteboard and He wipes that board so clean that is like a brand new, as never ever written on, rather than just been cleanse. We could say it was born again. Now, Peter quotes the words of Moses, and these are a warning with dire consequences. He is saying there are two ways to live. One is to listen to everything Jesus tells us, and the other is to not listen to him. It is easy to understand that those who reject what Jesus tells them will be cut off from among his people. This would also imply that his people are the ones who listen to everything he tells them. The operative word here is everything. The Greek word translated as everything has this meaning of the whole. Therefore, we need to listen to the whole of Jesus’s words. This would also imply that if we are listening to the whole of his words, then we are supposed to act upon that which we hear, as he is our Lord and Savior. The question is whether we are truly acting on or are having the attitudes that he has told us. We could say we have in the sense that we accepted him as our Lord and Savior by calling on his name. But that is only the first step that gives us eternal life. However, are we in danger of being cut off if we do not listen to all that he has said, which implies doing or behaving in the manner he said and having the attitudes he said we are to have? Within the next sentence, Peter speaks about turning from our wicked ways. Would that imply that is just this turning from our old life to our new life in Christ? Then there is nothing else we need to do and we can just go about our lives as we always have. That does not seem right in any sense of the word. We have to change from our wicked ways and live in a manner that pleases the Lord and that would mean listening to the whole of his teachings. This could take a lifetime to incorporate every aspect of all the teachings of Jesus into our attitude and behavior. Of course, we have the Spirit to lead us in all this truth from Jesus. Certainly, the first and foremost is to remain in him for apart from him we can do nothing. This would mean that anything we do on our own is nothing, worthless, meaningless, or unimportant. The key to successful living is first, listening, second, doing what we hear.