Deaf and Blind

Hello precious one of God. I hope your week was awesome and full of victory in The Lord.
The month of January is almost ending and we’re probably all trying to get better habits than last year, for example reading God’s Word daily, worshiping Him and obeying Him.
Today however I would like to raise a little question.
Do you think it’s possible to do all that (reading/hearing God’s Word daily, singing/hearing Gospel music frequently, going to church every Sunday) without really engaging with Him ?
In other words, is it possible to be in contact with God’s Word without putting your heart in it?
Or, is it possible to become passive in listening to His Word?
Let’s take a look at the people of Israël to answer this question.
The people of Israël (God’s chosen people) had received from God His Word, they had everything to remember His Word, they had priests to teach them, they had prophets to remind The Word to them, they had the Sabbat to comme to the Temple all together and listen to God’s Word for the whole day.
Every thing about their law and about how they judged cases in their daily lives revolved around God’s Word. Even their feasts all through the year were all about God, and the way they managed their goods and income was centered about God (tithes and offerings). They had a good number of songs directed solely to give glory to God, and singing was a good part of their worship to God. They had it all.
That is, the people of Israël «had God’s Word for breakfast, brunch, lunch, supper, dinner » if I can put it this way.
They were surrounded with God’s presence and with His Word, but it didn’t make them engage with His Word.
Isaiah 29:13 NIV

The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.

God says their hearts were far from Him. This means they had The Word with them but they didn’t engage with The Word. They listened to it passively, they heard The Word because it was spoken to them, but they didn’t listen to it actively with their hearts.
Isaiah 42:20 NIV

You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen.”

They went through The Word but they didn’t let The Word go through them.
They sung religious music but the lyrics never reached their hearts. It became more of a formal thing than an act of adoration, and because they disengaged (became passive) with listening to God’s Word, they also became passive with obeying God’s Word. That’s how they ended up sinning.
You can’t be passive with God’s Word and then become active when it comes to obeying The Word which you failed to receive actively in your heart in the first place
This raises a question in my heart.
Is it only the people of Israël who were susceptible to this or am I susceptible to it too?
Let’s look at what God says in Isaiah 42:19
Isaiah 42:19 NIV

Who is blind but My servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like the servant of the Lord ?

Who is more prompt to disengage with The Word than the person who has it available to Him everyday?
Who is more prompt to become so familiar with Gospel music that the lyrics don’t mean anything to them anymore than Christians who sing Gospel music everyday/worship leaders?
Who is more susceptible to become so familiar with some verses in The Bible that when they’re read in church they space out because they feel like they already know everything about it than the Christians who have read the verse time and again?
Please I’m not saying that we should read our Bibles less or sing less Gospel music, don’t misinterpret me.
What I am saying is that when we read The Bible we should really put our hearts in reading and seek to have a real encounter with God.
When we go to church it should be for God to speak to us. Not to sit down in church while our hearts and minds are still at home, at our offices, in school etc.
When we listen to Gospel music the lyrics shouldn’t become so common that the song doesn’t bring our heart to an intimate prayerful moment with God.
When we lead our church in worship, when we sing and play Gospel music, we shouldn’t just repeat words and chords, our hearts should be in prayer because worship is meant to be an encounter with God.
If we aren’t careful and if we don’t do these things with all our hearts, we’ll fall into the same trap as the people of Israel as described above.
Outwardly we’ll look holy but inside we won’t get anything from reading His Word and singing to Him because we would have transformed it into a routine instead of a supernatural encounter with God during which He transforms our hearts and fills us with His joy.
As we dive deeper into the year, our resolutions shouldn’t just be “I’ll read God’s Word everyday” or “I’ll pray everyday” or “I’ll fast more often” or “I’ll sing more to adore God”, our resolutions should be

• When I’ll read God’s Word I’ll focus on His Word and I’ll let His Word touch my heart
• When I’ll pray I’ll keep my heart on God, and I’ll pray with all my heart and my mind, I’ll focus my thoughts while I’m praying and I’ll pray without distractions
• When I’ll fast I’ll not only work on my flesh but also on my heart so that my fast may draw me closer to God
• When I’ll sing to adore God I’ll put in all my heart and my soul to adore Him from the inside and not just outwardly

This year, we want to get intentional about our relationship with God. We want an encounter with Him in everything we do.
We’re not being passive any longer because if we remain passive we’ll keep disobeying Him
This year, we want to enjoy His presence to the fullest.
The good news is that though Israël had disengaged and become blind and deaf to God’s Word, God forgave their sins and decided to bring them back to Him and lead them.
Isaiah 42:16 NLT

I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way. I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them. Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them.

It goes the same for you and me. If we are willing, and turn back to God and we ask Him to help us engage with His Word wholeheartedly, He won’t forsake us, He’ll help us have a real daily encounter with Him.
Prayer
Father Lord God King of Glory, I confess there have been times where I spaced out in church or during prayer. I confess I made it a routine to pray/read The Bible/ go to church/ sing /listen to Gospel-religious music, and as such I failed so often to do it with all my heart and to enjoy Your presence as I should have. Father, I want to engage with Your Word with all my heart from this day forward. Help me Lord, in Jesus Christ’s Name. Amen.
Thank you so much for reading.
You are blessed and highly favoured.
Permit me to invite you to church this Sunday (and every other Sunday) at Elevation Church.
Pastor Steven Furtick is teaching powerfully on his new sermon series titled «The Gates of Change» which I highly recommend to everyone who’s made some mistakes last year and who wants to win the battle this year, and start the year right with God.
You can catch up with the previous sermons on the YouTube channel of Elevation Church, and watch online LIVE every Sunday at 15:30, 17:30, 23:00 GMT+1 (Time in Cameroon).
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Kindly leave a comment if you have any question, prayer request or remark.
Thank you so much.
God bless you.
Victoria Eyog