Hearing but not Obeying

Scripture:

Ezek. 33:31 They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they will not obey them. For flattery is on their lips, but their hearts is set on their gain.
Ezek. 33:32 To them you are like a singer of love songs, one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; they hear what you say, but they will not do it.

Observation:

The people of Ezekiel’s day seemed to recognize his role as a prophet. They would gather to hear him speak the words of God. They would listen to what he had to say but they did not change their ways and the moment they left him, their minds were back on the things of the world. Just like attending a wonderful musical concert the people were moved with great emotion but their emotion never gave way to obedience.

Application:

The people love to come and sit in the worship services. They shop around for the one that is the best “fit” for them. Because we get to see and hear so many preachers on television and on the internet we know what we like and what we want and we have high expectations for the quality of the preaching they should produce. We want to be able to hear the very best. Sometimes we realize our pastor can’t perform in that way week after week but as we go out the back door of the church we do try to give him/her a word of encouragement. We thank the Pastor for the good words and say,  “Preacher, that was a good sermon today!” But the reality is that we are more concerned with how the message was presented than we were with the content. There is nothing about what the preacher preached that would make us change the way in which we are living our lives.

We have to hurry and get out the door because it’s Sunday and everyone knows what happens on Sundays!  Football!!!! It’s especially frustrating if the preacher goes too long and if there’s a response at the altar at the end of the message because it could all begin to interfere with the afternoon plans. We have to get to the restaurant in time to get home and watch the games for the remainder of the day.

At the restaurant there may be discussions of the morning service but they are more than likely to center on how well everyone “performed” that day. The music was a great performance — I mean, at some churches it is accompanied by a laser light show and smoke! We love to go to the show and we come away greatly entertained by what we have seen on the “stage.” The words of the preacher have been good and the message was challenging, but nothing about our lives will change. We were hearing but not obeying.

Oh, but this was just what was happening way back there in Ezekiel’s day.

Prayer:

Lord, may we hear your word and may we be moved to action.  Amen.