WHO ARE YOU LISTENING TO?

“And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.”

2 Samuel 13:5

There are a handful of things that can make or mar a man, but very few of those things hold as much weight as the people he allows speak to him when he needs guidance.

It is, of course, a terrible thing for a man to be without advisors or someone to run to for counsel, but another thing worse than that is to have a counselor that is evil in thought or is not wise.

One of the things I love about God is His sense of order. This means that, although all answers can be found in Him, He will sometimes send those answers through a man. This tells us that we need men who can hear and speak God’s counsel to us in our lives.

But imagine if the one who wields such influence in your life is evil. If you read further in today’s Bible passage, we see that the abomination that took place did not just happen. First, there was the desire he did not know how to achieve. And there was the rape. But before the atrocity was committed, a man was telling him how to go about the evil in his heart.

Do you not wonder how that would have played out if he had a counselor that rebuked him immediately or even reported him for having those thoughts? Things would have gone very differently. Of course, that doesn’t take the blame away from the one who sinned. But oftentimes, there is a chance for redemption based on the person who has your ears. For example, a husband angry with his wife goes out and talks to a friend or mentor about the issue. Two things could happen. A wise counselor would rebuke him sharply and make him see the reasons he does not even have to keep offense even though he’s the right one. This would make him view things from another perspective and go home to make peace with his wife. On the other hand, if the person he tells goes on to add fuel to fire by recounting how the woman must be taking him for granted, he is prone to make even bigger mistakes at the detriment of his beautiful marriage. All because of who he listened to.

This is a matter we must take very seriously as Christians. In guarding our hearts, we must carefully screen the people whose counsel we submit to. A quick tip is to only listen to people who direct you in the way of the Word of God.

Not people who try to tell you that they understand that the Word of God is too Hard. They often start with “let’s be realistic; humanly speaking; let’s remove the God’ factor“. Besides, even you must know the word of God for yourself, and be discerning to know who is speaking from the Father or the devil.

In conclusion, my dear Christian, if the word of God said it, that’s all the reality you need. Take heed lest you listen to the wrong person.

Prayer

1. Lord, I ask that you bring me to the right people,and help me to be the right person for someone.

2. Father, help me to quickly cut off all relationships that leave me in my comfort zone instead of the place where I am challenged to be all that you want for me.

3. Lord Jesus, please, in anyway i might have acted wrongly based on the wrong counsel, please have mercy on me and even the counselor. And help me to recognise and only listen to your voice.

This is our first message for today. May this message bless you on your spiritual journey. Please share your thoughts in the comments below, and click here for more resources to aid in your spiritual growth.

Have a pleasant day!