The Kerusso – January | 2025 Kerusso (Greek): “To publish, proclaim openly: something which has been done.”
To Whom Will We Listen? It Matters Greatly!! Max Edwards In the second of Paul’s pastoral letters to Timothy, the Holy Spirit inspired him to describe the condition of things as humanity approaches the end of the present age. In part, he notes, “3 the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4 niv) Stark, isn’t it? In plain and simple words, the prediction is that people will intentionally turn from truth to myth. “They will TURN THEIR EARS AWAY …”. That fallen tendency in us to turn away from truth is the reason God instructed ancient Israel to pray repeatedly, “Hear O’ Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One.” (Deuteronomy 6:4 niv) This twice-daily prayer is called the Shema, which means “to listen.” There is one reliable source of truth - - one source that deserves our committed attention, and HE is the LORD GOD. In Psalm 81, we find a deep and passionate lament on God’s part. He knows that when we do not listen to Him, and follow His voice, we expose ourselves to danger, distraction, and destruction. These are His thoughts: 8
Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you would only listen to me! 9 You must never have a foreign god; you must not bow down before a false god. 10 For it was I, the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. 11 “But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around. 12 So I let them follow their own stubborn desires, living according to their own ideas. 13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!
Listen Psalm 81:13
“If my people would only listen to me …”
We mustn’t allow our selfish and stubborn wills to govern us. We, who call Jesus LORD must guard against the seductive voice of our covetous and self-worshipping culture. This must not be the condition of the people called Evangelical Methodists!! This year, I’ll be reminding myself that there is only one safe path … only one safe voice. We’ll be talking about it in our Journey meetings around the country, and I’ll be writing about it in future Kerusso articles and Tuesday Briefs. We must listen, and listen carefully. Our stability and our effectiveness rest on our commitment to do so.