HEAR AND OBEY THE WORD OF GOD

Proclamation:

“... Blessed rather are those who hear The Word of God and obey it."  Luke 11:28 (NIV)  The King James version of The Bible reads: “… Blessed are they that hear The Word of God, and keep it.”

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as recorded by Luke, the physician and frequent travelling companion of the Apostle Paul.  Jesus was responding to a woman in the crowd, who had just witnessed Him cast out a demon from a man that was mute. (Luke 11:14) She called out to Him and said “Blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and nursed you.” (Luke 11:27)  His response to her was that those who hear and obey The Word of God are blessed.   

Application:

All of us have been blessed in more ways than we can count and we all want additional blessings.  However, this conditional blessing requires a two fold response on our part, we must first "hear" and then "obey" The Word of God.  Many people hear The Word of God, but as the old people used to say, “it goes in one ear and out of the other.”  It does not stop, interact with, or change anything as it passes through their head.  When we hear The Word of God, it ought to change us in some way.  We ought to see things in a different light and we ought to think, speak, and act differently.  We need to be doers of The Word and not just hearers only. (James 1:22)  If after hearing The Word of God we are no different than we were beforehand, then we are not true followers of Christ.  True believers are changed by the exposure to The Word of God and become new creatures. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  The Holy Spirit of God indwells believers and they begin to exhibit the fruit of The Spirit.  Believers are not perfect.  All who truly believe in Christ will change and lose some of their desires for the sinful passions of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16-24)  When we know better, then we ought to do better or we will be convicted by The Holy Spirit within us when we don’t.