He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” – Matthew 17:5
According to London’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, “sport’s greatest goal” was accomplished on the morning of May 6, 1954, when Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes. Despite warnings from physiologists that attempting such a feat was an athletic impossibility, one that would endanger his health and his life, Bannister trained continually. On the morning of the race, a strong wind was blowing at the racetrack. He was encouraged not to push, but he pressed on. He would later say, “The earth seemed to move with me.” At his funeral in 2016, his son was the last to eulogize him. In introducing his son, the officiating minister said, “There are some things about a father that only a son or daughter can know.”
The Father-Son relationship Jesus had as a human with God in heaven is unique. Jesus could speak of the Father as only a Son could, and with the same authority that the Father has. At the Mount of Transfiguration, God the Father, acknowledging His pleasure with Jesus, told the disciples to “listen to Him.” Listening to Jesus today involves spending time with Him through reading His Word, prayerfully considering what you have read, and following through on the calls or commands He gives. Dr. David Jeremiah said, “We have a responsibility to hear God speak and listen.” Theologian John Piper said, “Turn down the noise and listen to Jesus. Wake up! Listen. Don’t drift. Take heed. Look. Zero in.”
In a world searching for truth, calm, and peace, pray for those in positions of authority to listen carefully to the call of God upon their lives. May they receive grace to hear Him now, up to the highest levels of government.
Today’s Verse: Matthew 17:5
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Hebrews 3:6-14
6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.
7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
on the day of testing in the wilderness,
9 where your fathers put me to the test
and saw my works for forty years.
10 Therefore I was provoked with that generation,
and said, ‘They always go astray in their heart;
they have not known my ways.’
11 As I swore in my wrath,
‘They shall not enter my rest.’”
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
