Monday, January 30, 2012

Eyes And Ears

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. (1 Peter 3:12)
It is possible to listen to someone without looking at them. It is also possible to look at someone without listening. But when we look at someone while listening to them, we can learn a lot.
THE LORD IS LOOKING AND LISTENING.
Some of the most painful experiences come when we are ignored by people who are supposed to love us. I know a man who endured years of being ignored by his father. His father had never forgiven him for something he had done as a teenager. Even when the father was on his deathbed, he would not look upon his son. When his son would try to speak to him, the father would turn his face away. The son tearfully told his father that he loved him and never knew for sure that his father ever heard him at all.
I am thankful that God does not hold grudges. When we come to Him in repentance, He sees us and hears us. Then He forgives us.

I. THE LORD IS LOOKING UPON THE RIGHTEOUS. Like a creator who loves to gaze on the object of his labor, the Lord looks lovingly on the righteous. He looks to see the growth of goodness. He looks to see what was once nothing become something. He looks with eyes of love.
II. THE LORD IS LISTENING TO A LANGUAGE OF PRAYER. Only those who are praying to God are communicating in God’s language. Many prayers are meaningless repetition and do not communicate with God. It’s because He speaks in a dialect of love. Only those who have connected with God are truly communicating with Him. Only those who love God want to talk to Him. God hears the prayers of the righteous. We become righteous only because of the sacrificial and transforming work of God. He, who is righteousness, became unrighteousness on our behalf. The righteous sacrifice was then offered as a ransom as a price of freedom from captivity. Once we acknowledge this payment, we accept the reality of being transferred from one master to another. Love is communicated in this transaction. When we recognize this, we accept this love and begin to speak this same language. God’s ears are open to someone speaking His language.
III. THE LORD IS ALIENATED BY EVILDOERS. The Lord is repulsed and offended by evil. The more fearful thing is that He is against the evildoers. We should be examining our hearts before God to discern if we have evil motives. If our actions are motivated by evil desires, we are in danger of being found to be enemies of God. This is a terrifying scenario to consider. That God would not look upon me with favor or hear my prayers because of my evil actions makes me tremble inwardly. To understand God as a merciful God, you must experience your need for mercy. Experiencing our need for mercy helps us recognize the character of God who is the Righteous Judge. Only He has the unique wisdom and the ability to judge rightly all the time. We don’t want to be on that side of God. We need to be on the mercy side.

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