Jesus did only those things that had been placed in His mind by His Father. And He wants you to learn to live that way too. It’s essential to fulfilling God’s will for your life. The Bible says that Mary took time to listen to Jesus, but her sister Martha didn’t because she was too busy ‘serving’ (see Luke 10:40). You can get so busy serving the Lord that you lose your sensitivity to His voice and end up preoccupied with secondary things. You learn to hear from God by making time to hear from Him! Fifteen times in the New Testament, Jesus said, ‘He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.’ When you became a new creation in Christ, you got new spiritual ears, but you must learn how to use them. Indeed, that must become one of the highest priorities in your life. A newborn child has the ability to hear, but doesn’t understand what he or she is hearing; understanding takes time, it takes learning, it takes attention, it takes intimacy with his or her parents. When Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection, they didn’t recognise Him. But He loved them, so ‘he opened their minds so they could understand’ (Luke 24:45 NIV). As you look back over your life, you recognise times when God walked and talked with you but you didn’t understand what He was saying. No problem! God is patient, and He will work with you and develop you.
