While the book of Deuteronomy is not often the first place the church goes for fresh revelation from God, the words are powerful. They are relational; they have stood the test of time. The words of Deuteronomy do not speak only to the exiled Hebrews, as they prepare to enter the Promised Land, they speak to us as we seek a faithful response to the Lord in our daily lives.
In Deuteronomy 6:4 we read the famous Shema: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One."
This is as foundational of a statement as we will read in the Old Testament for the Hebrews--and the word order got me thinking and wondering. What must it be like, I wondered, to put hearing God ahead of being heard by God?
Think about that for a second.
So many of our liturgical prayers, and so many of our personal prayers center on God hearing what it is we are saying and taking notice of what we want to highlight in our prayers. Do our devotional lives offer God space to speak and be heard or do we fill all the available room with the sound of our own voice and our own needs and by doing so we forget the sound of God's voice?
I wonder if today, these words might be an invitation to hear from God, rather than speak to God?
🙏💕
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