Have You Heard?

** Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,…** Hebrews 1:2

The world and its cultures is full of ideas, opinions, and perspectives on what is right and wrong. Through the ages, priorities have changed in every culture. Priorities like better health care, or better education. Some have focused on the rights of the people, others have taken the people’s rights away so that the leaders can have and do what they want. Some have granted the freedom to worship as the people choose and some have taken away that freedom. History teaches us that priorities and perspectives change over time.

Since the beginning of time as we know it, the Lord’s perspectives have not changed. He always seeks to reach the hearts of His creation. But the Lord has used many ways and many people in His effort to reach out to His creation. As we read the Bible, we see the Lord’s perspectives unfold.

In Genesis, we learn of the beauty and detail of the Lord as He creates our world and our universe for His glory and for our good. As we continue to read, we learn of the choices we all make that show our own priorities and our own heart: like who we choose to worship, how we treat our family members and friends, all reflected in the characters we read about. We later read of kingdoms that rise to great power and kingdoms that fall due to pride and prosperity and self-worship as the Lord’s will unfolds.

Throughout the Old Testament we can see the victories and woes of God’s people. We meet men and women who live to please God and others that live to please themselves. The Lord speaks to each of us through these accounts, helping us to learn how to do things better than those that have gone before us.

Then, right in the middle of the Bible, we meet a man whose focus is the heart of God and then lives to please it and Him. We read of David’s dedication, worship and praise of the One who loves him unconditionally and Who is forever faithful in caring for David’s every need.

After the death of David, we meet his descendants and their choices of following in David’s footsteps or their running in the opposite direction, as far from David’s example as they can get.

Lastly, we read of the difficult job that the prophets had of trying to communicate the messages, the warnings and the mercy that the Lord has for His people. By the time we reach the Gospel of Matthew, we are either worn out by the judgments that the Lord promises to send upon those who have turned their back on Him, or we rejoice and take comfort in the mercy and long suffering that He showed to generations of rebellious people.

Entering the New Testament, we cross a bridge. Something wonderful happens on the other side of it. After thousands of years of trying to get the Lord’s message to His creation through others, He Himself shows up to speak to us personally.

** God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,…** Hebrews 1:1,2

** who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person ** 1:3 Emanuel, God in the flesh, enters our world, our culture, our opinions and our perspectives to show us His. Jesus comes with power to heal, compassion to help, and wisdom to lead. He lives His Word right before us. And then He preserves all of the wisdom of the Old and the New Testaments for us, so that we can learn again and again. But, now, we can have a new perspective on all of it. His perspective.

** Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. ** Hebrews 2:1

Now, we can go back and see the courage of Abraham for stepping out and walking by faith to find the land that the Lord promises Him.

We can take a new look at Ruth, a stranger in a strange land. A woman who left her family, her culture and her religion to serve her mother-in-law! and trust in the God that has rocked her world and made her literally a part of His human bloodline.

We can see the nobility of Debora, staying true to her faith in her All Powerful God, even when ALL of the men of her country have lost their faith and courage.

We can read the prophets and instead of seeing their words as judgments, we can see the Lord’s heart as He warns His people to listen and to run from their mistakes for their own good. He cries out to them through the prophets again and again. And when anyone, in old times or today, does listen and turn back to God, He pours out His mercy and love on them.

** Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,…**

** But we see Jesus…** Hebrews 2:9

Our daily reading is about seeing and hearing the Son speak to us. It is about hearing His perspective on every one of our problems and needs. It is about listening every day to what He has to teach us-from His point of view. And it is about learning how to see everything in our lives and the lives of others from His perspective and then living in a way that reflects that new information.

When Paul tells Timothy ** Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. **…He is not telling him to fulfill a religious ritual or requirement. He is telling him to see Jesus in every word that he reads, in every word that he shares with others and to every lesson he teaches. Because from Genesis to Revelation it is about one perspective. Jesus’ perspective.

Have we heard the Lord’s perspective today? Have we asked Him to show us His perspective on today’s troubles? Have we been still enough to just listen? Have we heard?

Let me know what you think!