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In our pursuit of making 2019 our best year yet, we have been looking at Luke 6:47-49 because Jesus, who is arguably the most famous person the world has ever known, gives us three major building blocks that will lead all of us to have a better life.
We have already seen that the first building block to a better life is you need to come to Jesus. If you have not read that post, you can here (kind of an important one).
Now, we turn our attention to the second major building block that Jesus suggests we place into our lives, which is to listen to him.
The second building block to a better life that you need to place into your life is to listen to Jesus.
Starting well is key to finishing well in any area of life, whether it be with a new job, semester, fitness or eating plan, whatever. Starting well out of the gate is extremely important in finishing the race and completing the goal that you have set for yourself.
The same is true with your spiritual life. Did you know that more people have a higher chance of actually reading their Bible early in the morning than at any other time of the day? In fact the later the day gets, the less likely anyone is reading their Bible at all (at most 25% of single people), according to a recent study. This shows us that even when it comes to your spiritual life, starting your day off well is key to finishing your day well.
For me, I want to follow Jesus more in 2019 so that looks like me getting my butt out of bed at 7 AM (an hour before I need to start working) every day to have one:one time with my Creator and Savior. If you’re like me though, you LOVE to sleep, so the only way that I am actually going to spend time with God is if I schedule it and stick to it. I started off well, but here lately I’ve been sleeping through my alarm because I’ve been staying up to late watch The Office on Netflix. That needs to stop because the habit is actually insanity in my life and I want 2019 to be the start of a brand new kind of life that I want for myself and all of the relationships that I have and will have. So, if going to bed at an early time and watching one less episode of The Office so that I can get up at 7 AM every day, then so be it!
The reason that this is so important is that I want to hear from God every day. I am helpless without hearing God communicate to me. The only way to do that is by listening well. In fact, the only way to start well is to listen well. The word that Jesus used to describe the type of listeners we need be is that of being an active, intentional listener who is basically hanging on every word Jesus says. The one who listens to Jesus like this is basically displaying that they are hungry and thirsty for Jesus’ words because without them they are hopeless.
This was true of all of Jesus’ followers. In John 6, we see Jesus saying some pretty shocking things like he is the bread of life, the only way to God the Father, and that his body would be broken and his followers would eat it … (whaaaaat?) … because of these statements, some of his followers bounced. Watching them walk out on him, Jesus turned to his closest followers to see if they were leaving as well. What’s amazing is that the unofficial leader of the group, Peter, speaks up and says,
“‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!’” - John 6:68-69 NLT
Even though Jesus says some pretty shocking statements and requires you to make him your number priority, we should still come to him because everything else we have tried has let us down and we should listen and learn from Jesus because He alone has the words that lead to eternal life and our best life ever.
In order to start living your best life now, you need to build your life on Jesus by choosing to come to Jesus and listen to him.
Stay tuned for the third building block to a better life. For now though, what are some ways that you can increase your ability to listen to Jesus better in 2019?
Answer down below!
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