PODCAST
Listening To God’s Word
July 6th, 2020
Nehemiah 8:1-9
Have you ever walked out of a church service and thought, “Wow, I really didn’t get anything out of that today”? Truth be told, all of us have probably walked away from a church service feeling less than satisfied. Maybe we didn’t like the music or maybe the pastor was boring and preached way too long. Perhaps the problem lies within us.
Following 70 years of captivity in Babylon, God’s people had finally returned to their land. After working hard to rebuild their homes, the temple, and even the city walls, they gathered to hear Ezra read God’s Word. The people listened because they needed to hear God’s Word. They had lost everything. They were tired. Any hope they had that life might return to normal was quickly fading.
So, they gathered, not because it was the best worship service in town, but to remember their story. They gathered to be shaped and formed by God, not by the last 70 years of exile. The Word of God was everything to them.
May we also long to hear and be shaped by the Word of the Lord.
Author: Georgia Patton
