The fields are a patchwork of rye oats, and radish mix, or bare soil. Cows, pigs, and chickens softly chat to each other, not too interested in these random humans walking around. Smoke from the office chimney is welcoming. It is quiet and still on a frosty morning at First Fruits Farm. Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High I pray, Holy Father, that all will shema, listen and obey, read Your Word and be changed into the people that we were created to be. He writes His presence in the universe and your heart knows it. He challenges us if we are distracted by even our own ideas! He continually scans our situations and goes before us. He protects and warns us if we drift too far. His Holy Spirit, living within us, causes us to attend to the best in our lives, to see the blessings, to listen well. The best teachers bent over desks to give kids pointers on work as they labored away. Some teachers walked around the room continually to monitor the entire class. In school teachers said “pay attention,” “sit still,” “eyes this way,” “be a good listener.” Everyone knew it was easier to attend if you sat up close and easier to get in trouble if you sat in the back! We also knew that talking was forbidden if we were supposed to be listening. In Hebrew, which is the original language of the Old Testament, there is no distinct word for “obey.” By Megan Briggs in Church Leader “Understanding the Hebrew Word for ‘Listen’ Will Change Your Relationship with God” Listening then, according to the wisdom of God, is to listen AND to obey. We read in scripture that God is the maker of our ability to shema ( Prov 20:12, God equates listening to Him with keeping the covenants made by Him. The confession is referred to as the Shema. Shema is the first word of the daily confession about God Jewish people have made ever since antiquity. James 1:5 says 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. The ancient ones, the people God chose to lead all had questions.
If you have questions, you are not alone. Continued questions to God about His will are great forms of prayer. If you are a logical and questioning sort of person, His will is written clearly in scripture. You may hear nothing but cicadas when you listen for the answers to your prayers, but God promises to hear our prayers and ANSWER….if we pray in His will. Trying to listen to God might seem weird and slippery at first. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (ESV) 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. “Hear, (or “Shema”) O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might and these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
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