The man replied, "This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It's well known that God isn't at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn't come from God, he wouldn't be able to do anything."
The 9th chapter is the story of where Jesus heals a blind man and the religious leaders of the day get upset because he did it on the Sabbath. The 3 verses above are the recorded words of the blind man whom Jesus had healed as he is speaking with these religious leaders. What captured me was this man's simple recipe for getting God to listen to us: live in reverence and do His will.
Sometimes in life it feels like God is a long way away and not listening; as if my prayers are bouncing off an unseen ceiling. But there are two things I know: 1) Feelings are not always reality or truth. 2) God's word is always true.
I wanted to check out the wording of this in other translations or paraphrases; so here is that 31st verse said some other ways:
KJV: Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.
NIV: We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man who does his will.
NLT: We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will.
Amplified: We know that God does not listen to sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and a worshiper of Him and does His will, He listens to him.
It all comes down to those two things - worship or reverence Him and do His will, obey Him. So I want to think some on what it means to worship or reverence God.
Interesting pieces of definitions of these words:
Worship: reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, the object of adoring reverence or regard.
Reverence: a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration. The outward manifestation of this feeling: to pay reverence.
Psalm 2:11
Worship God in adoring embrace,
Celebrate in trembling awe. Kiss Messiah!
Wow, don't you just love this scripture?! The passion here, this is not a boring, static religion. This is about adoring our God, celebrating Him with awe, being so overcome that we express acts of spontaneous love with our bodies!
Hebrews 12:28
Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God.
As I read these words my heart is stirred. I want to live this way! I want to be thankful throughout my day, always in mind of all God has done for me. Constantly worshiping Him.
Now for the do His will part; it's not like I can just get an exact definition for "do". Instead I'll look at other scriptures with this same concept:
Deuteronomy 7:7-10:
God wasn't attracted to you and didn't choose you because you were big and important—the fact is, there was almost nothing to you. He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors. God stepped in and mightily bought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations. But he also pays back those who hate him, pays them the wages of death; he isn't slow to pay them off—those who hate him, he pays right on time.
Hebrews 13:20-21
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
It's this idea of just doing what He tells us. As a parent I get it; what parent doesn't want their kids to just do what they say! Yet, when I first think of it that way I get a picture of how I'm just like one of my sons who wants to obey me but the temptation to just do the fun easy thing instead sometimes seems overpowering. That's why I like the scripture above; it points to the fact that it is Jesus who equips me to be able to do God's will.
Oh Father, I want to be heard by You. I want to have that intimate relationship with You where I talk with You all the time. Where I know that You hear me and where I'm able to hear You. Thank you Jesus that you equip me, that You've even given me Your spirit to live inside me. Help my heart to be a grateful today throughout the day, whatever comes; may I be a person who looks at the good side of things and does not forget all Your blessings to me. Oh Holy Spirit, stir up within me an attitude of passionate respect, reverence and worship of God today. Enable me to live in obedience this day. Thank You Father.
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