Which One Will You Listen To?
There are two voices competing for our attention. Right and wrong, good and bad, Holy Spirit and the world. This is like the cartoons with an angel sitting on one shoulder and the Devil sitting on the other. Both are talking to us, trying to convince us we should do what they suggest.
It’s up to us to decide which one we’re going to listen to.
The voice of the world is sneaky. The voice of the world is loud. The voice of the world is everywhere. It makes suggestions that sound like it isn’t anything really bad. It’s just the way things are if you want to get ahead, be popular, have money, be successful, etc.
In John 16:7-11 Jesus tells His followers…
“But I tell you I am going to do what is best for you. This is why I am going away. The Holy Spirit cannot come to help you until I leave. But after I am gone, I will send the Spirit to you.
The Spirit will come and show the people of this world the truth about sin and God’s justice and the judgment. The Spirit will show them that they are wrong about sin, because they didn’t have faith in me. They are wrong about God’s justice, because I am going to the Father, and you won’t see me again. And they are wrong about the judgment, because God has already judged the ruler of this world.”
The Holy Spirit is the voice that tells us the truth about sin, justice, and judgement.
When Eve took a bite of the fruit, sin entered the world. Our relationship then changed. Sin is choosing to not believe and to not follow Jesus. Jesus left us the Holy Spirit to guide us, if we will just listen.
God’s justice is Jesus paying the price for our sin. He paid the price with His life. This justice is the truth about God. But we must listen to His voice and believe if we want to receive this gift.
The voice of the world will be judged and punished. Our judgement comes if we choose to listen to the wrong voice.
The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ voice in us.
We all have a sense of right and wrong. But we are weak and need the strength of the Holy Spirit to help us make the right decisions. We need to listen to the right Voice.
When we’re faced with voices telling us different things, we can discern the right one from the wrong one with a few simple tests.
First test is the Bible. Does this voice align with Scripture? This doesn’t mean a few select verses, it means the Bible as a whole.
The second test is selfishness. Is this a voice that says you’re all that matters? Every man for himself. No one is looking out for you. This doesn’t sound like the right voice to me.
The last test is: does it sound like Satan’s voice? A manipulation of the truth. Like when he spoke to Eve in the Garden. A questioning, “Are you sure that’s what God meant? What will it hurt if you eat the fruit?”
Being aware of the voices and understanding them is critical to following the right one. Then it comes down to deciding which one to listen to. If we listen to the wrong one there will be an eternal price to pay.
If we hold on to the world, we’ll go down with a sinking ship.