Daily Bible Reading – 10.5.2021
James 1:19, My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
It is fascinating what we can learn if we stop from our hurried pace and take time to listen to each other. I appreciate some on our leadership team who contact me regularly to check-in, listen, and ask questions. They do not have an agenda but, rather, they are genuinely interested in hearing what is happening with me and the congregation.
Jesus modeled this kind of listening, even, as a 12 year-old boy. When his parents, mistakenly, left him behind in Jerusalem on one their pilgrimages, we are told, “After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” (Luke 2:46)
As a youngster, Jesus instinctively knew the pathway to learning and growing was through listening and asking, not first talking and telling. The older I have become the more I wish I would have listened and asked more questions of my parents and grandparents for the sake of knowledge and wisdom.
In Jesus’ ministry, he continued to listen to others and ask questions. On one occasion when Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” (Matthew 16:13)
Jesus wanted to know what was being said about him. They gave several answers, and Jesus went on to ask, “But what about you? Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:15-16)
Jesus is still asking and listening. He wants to know from each one of us who we believe Him to be. What is your answer?
Questions to Consider:
Who do you say Jesus is? What is your profession of faith?
Weekly Memory Verse:
James 1:19, My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,