“Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.” Matthew 23:1-4

The state of Judaism in Jesus’ day is the state that many churches and Christians have found themselves in down through the years. Groups that have a form of God’s truth but that have strayed from the motives behind the principles. Men and women who once experienced the grace of God on a personal level, but now are more concerned with making sure all the “i”s are dotted and all the “t”s are crossed. When that happens long enough, movements turn into decaying monuments, and churches and people, once so close to the Lord, begin to fall away from their faith and become just another “club” with agendas that don’t really echo the original mission of the Great Commission.

Last week we wrote that it seems that many Christians today “frustrate” the grace of God and, in doing so, hinder the flow of God’s help into their lives. They may not realize they are doing this, and for sure, if they realized it in the moment, they would have enough sense to stop, but they are nonetheless complicating God’s solution to their problems and, at times, even advocating a “Jesus plus” theology.

We said that God’s grace is a mighty river, but when we try to complicate His solutions and fail to just do what He says, we try to funnel that grace through a garden hose and end up restricting what God desires to do in our lives. We saw this very concept illustrated in the lives of both Naaman and in the earliest form of the Christian church. Thankfully, both Naaman and the early church corrected course and did eventually receive the manifold grace of God in their lives, but the danger for us to fall into this “Jesus plus” religion remains. Something we should guard ourselves against in the times in which we live.

With that said, what would entice us to ever reject the grace of God in all its power and simplicity?

Well, one reason we complicate God’s grace in our lives and fail to just do what He says is because we don’t really trust His Word enough. What I mean is this—we hear from God, but then we second guess whether that was really God or not (or His Word to us, or if that’s what He really meant, etc., you get the picture) and that paralyzes us from taking appropriate action.

While it’s true that there are many voices in this world that vie for our attention, hearing and knowing the voice of God shouldn’t be difficult for us. We shouldn’t allow that to be an excuse for not following His directives. Think about it: you are one of His sheep. Right? Well, if you are, then John 10:27 states that his sheep hear His voice. In other words, it’s part of our spiritual constitution to be able to hear and know the voice of the Lord! That is just how we are made!

Now, some would say, “Well, if it’s part of my spiritual capabilities, then why do I have so much trouble hearing and knowing the voice of God?” Well, it’s not because you are incapable; it’s probably because you have every other voice in your life turned up so loud that you can’t hear what God is saying to you.

The key to hearing God better in this life is tuning out the voices of the world and tuning into His written Word. When you do that, you’ll find out how the Holy Spirit sounds just like the Scriptures. When the Bible becomes a familiar voice in your ear, so will the distinct sound of God’s voice to your mind and heart!

Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.