Pump Up The Volume (Part 1 of 3)

Pump Up The Volume

3-part series

Part 1 of 3

“Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.”

‭‭John‬ ‭8:43‬

In this parable Jesus tries to tell the Pharisees who He is but they aren’t listening. They can’t understand because they aren’t hearing what Jesus is saying. 

How can you listen to someone when you can’t hear them?

I am making a full confession - I don’t always hear my wife. I have a medical condition where she has to repeat herself several times before I truly hear what she is saying. Even then, most of the time I’m not listening. 

I’m joking of course, somewhat. 

There are times when I will be smack in the middle of something, enter my wife, and now she is having a straightaway conversation. A week later I get the “I told you about this last week”. 

In order to listen to someone you have to hear them. And in order to hear someone you have to make yourself available. 

There are three listening stages in my life in my relationship with God. 

Stage one is when the volume on God is turned off.  Stage two is when the volume is turned down.  And stage three in my relationship with God is when the volume is turned all the way up. 

Let’s look at stage one. This is usually a period in life when you don’t have a relationship with God. 

When the volume to God is off we are not listening. We don’t make ourselves available to God here. In this stage we are doing everything in our own will. We have turned off our prayer life, turned off our Bible reading. And this is a dangerous place to be. 

Because if the volume is off, we won’t hear a thing.  If you aren’t focused on God, you are focused on the world, it’s that simple. 

We have to make ourselves available and then make the commitment and sacrifices to hear God through His word and prayer. 

Some might not know where to start when their volume is off. Starting is the key though. You won’t hear anything unless you turn the volume on. 

You can turn the volume on by reading a chapter a day in your Bible and praying twice a day. This is less than fifteen minutes a day. Thirty if you have a lot to pray for. 

Make yourself available to hear God. Make yourself available for a relationship with Him today. 

“He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.”

‭‭John‬ ‭8:47‬