Have you been listening lately?
Vann and I had come in early for a pre-office hours meeting. We were both exhausted from a busy weekend and not really in a place to emotionally be very valuable to each other, but we were there anyway. We both admitted that we were too tired to be ready to do much productive thinking. Then Sam came in to say, “Hi.” Sam is the precious son of another person on our staff. His dad comes in early to start his work, then runs Sam to school. Sam came in and visited with us a minute and lifted our spirits. Vann and I both told Sam we were a little bit grumpy and asked him what we needed to do to be nice to the people we would meet that morning. Sam smiled sweetly, and replied very matter-of-factly, “Listen to your teacher.” Vann and I made eye contact and both had that expression on our faces that said that we had gotten the God-sent message from our little prophet. “Listen to your teacher.” In the rush of ministry, of life’s demands, of paying bills, of taking care of families, of pursuing goals, of fulfilling commitments, and a host of other demands, this is the ultimate reminder of what is important. We can get so caught up in doing our “Jesus stuff” that we lose track of Jesus’ voice in our own lives. We can forget why we do what we do. We can forget how we should treat people. We can get so self-absorbed or goal-absorbed or schedule-absorbed that we forget that we are to be Jesus to the people we meet each day. And to be Jesus to the people we meet each day, we’ve got to listen to our Teacher!
A student is not better than his teacher. But when the student has fully learned, then he will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40 ERV)
About the author: Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners and for the past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author of VerseoftheDay.com, God’s Holy Fire (on the Holy Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels.