There’s a lot of competing voices beckoning us to listen. First, we have the opinions of our family and friends. We’ve got our coworkers and bosses. And then just look at the media: ads everywhere on the Internet, TV, radio, magazines, newsletters…it’s endless.

Cram all of this together in our heads day and night and then leave us to sort it out and try to decide what should stick.

Who should we listen to? Who should have the final word on what is best?

I don’t know about you, but a long time ago I determined all the voices clamoring for my attention had a serious lack of reliability. Some were dead wrong, others were partially right, and that only some of the time. But I never found consistent answers until I turned to God’s Word. I read and read and read and in all of my study (going on 40 years now) I have never, not even once, found a wrong answer. I have never found anything spoken in the Bible to be untrue. I have found nothing that misled me or deceived me.

So where do I get my answers to life? The Bible, God’s Word.

There are many reasons for listening to God, but here a few of the main ones:

God’s Word Brings Security

God created the world. He loves the people He created. He wishes for us to live in peace and security, so He tells us again and again in Scripture how to live. He knows what is best – mankind does not. Man’s ways usher in evil – God’s ways bring peace and security:

“But he who listens to me shall live securely and will be at ease from the dread of evil.” Proverbs 1:33

God’s Word Brings Blessing

Everyone wishes to be blessed. We all desire to have friends and family and be at peace with one another. We want to have friendship, comfort, and love. We want all these things and more and God promises to give them freely, if we will but listen and follow. His ways bring blessing, and more than we can imagine:

“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways. Proverbs 8:32

God’s Word Brings Forgiveness

One of the greatest difficulties of living in a sin-cursed world is the guilt we bear. No one can escape guilt. Even those who are able to avoid punishment for their evil can never escape guilt. Guilt is a mechanism of the heart, put there by God to alert us to what is right and wrong. When there has been sin, there will be guilt. And we know that all people sin, continuously. But as taught in His Word, with God there is forgiveness:

“For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.” Psalm 86:5

That forgiveness comes one way, and one way only: it is by the sacrifice of God’s son, Jesus Christ, in our stead, when our sins are paid for and redemption is provided to us.

The provision by God for forgiveness is a major theme of the Bible, and a good overview can be found here in John 3:16.

Much of what we hear these days is nothing more than noise, attempting to drown out the truth. I have found and believe that God’s Word is far and away the best source to listen to. Listening to God is crucial to a full life!

And just how do we do that? Great question! There is a post coming on that subject…soon.