Do our lives reflect our listening to God’s word and obeying it?

John 8:42-47

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Today let’s revisit the acronym HALT – Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired. Often when we are experiencing one or more of these emotions, we are more vulnerable to falling into sinful habits.

I was thinking through these recently and realised that they can cut deep. For example, being hungry can mean more than just food – it could stretch to you’re hungry for attention or for satisfaction from something other than God. Anger can have many dimensions – including bitterness and resentment.

Often, we are like the Jews that Jesus is talking to in this chapter in John – we are unable to hear God speaking in our lives because we don’t want to. We don’t want Jesus to change our lives so that they reflect His glory. We persist in doing things that see us end up in a HALT state too often, and we are deaf to God calling out to us to turn back to Him.

Head: Is your life so clouded with other things that you are not making any room to hear God through His word?

Heart: What areas of your life are you unwilling to give over to God?

Hands: This week, have a think about any habits you may have fallen into that result in you being in a HALT state, which could be leading somewhere unhelpful.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for Jesus and His saving work on the cross. We are sorry that so often we are seduced by lies instead of clinging to Jesus. Please enable us to see the areas of our lives that we need to work on, with your gracious help, so we follow Jesus more closely.

A song to listen to: I’m not fine

Oliver Meehan- Creek Road Presbyterian Church- Carina