We know that Jesus is the Word of God made human. We also confess that God’s Word is living—active and alive. If the Word is truly alive, does it dwell with God, or can it also dwell within us? The apostle Paul seems to believe so and urges us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:1). This is because God desires for His Word to dwell in us and transform our bodies into His temple.
To understand why we should offer our bodies to God, we must first ask: why did God give a body to His Son? John the Apostle writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He then testifies that this Word took on human form and lived among us. He saw His glory—the glory of the Son of God—full of grace and truth (John 1:1, 14). In the same way, as the living Word dwelt in Christ, God now desires that His living Word dwell in us.
Father Taught His Son to Listen
Jesus came to this earth as a man to prove that even man — the creation of God — can obey God in every respect while living on this earth. Through disobedience, man lost the image of God; yet by learning to obey God, he can regain the image in which God created him in the beginning. Through Isaiah, God foretold how He would teach His Son to listen to Him.
The Sovereign LORD has given me a well-instructed tongue,
to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning,
wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.
Isaiah 50:4 (NIV)
While Jesus was fully aware of His purpose in coming to this earth, why would He need to be taught? He was with the Father from the beginning and knew the mind of His Father. The Father did not teach Jesus because He lacked wisdom. Rather, Jesus chose to live as a human Son — one who listens, obeys, and perfectly reveals the Father. In doing so, He became our example, showing us how to depend completely on Father God and obey Him at any cost.
Listen, As My Son Listens
The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears;
I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away.
Isaiah 50:5 (NIV)
Even after God taught His Son to listen as a role model for all people on earth, people remain unwilling to listen to God, yet they eagerly take in all the noise and lies of the world. Through the prophet Isaiah, God expressed His grief that no one was truly listening to Him. If we grieve God by not listening to Him, how will we ever learn His statutes and put them into practice in our lives? If we truly want to grow in the knowledge of God, listening is essential.
Eli knew from his own experience how important it is to listen to God. That is why he instructed the young Samuel to respond to God by listening. When the Lord called him, Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10). Since we have not learned to listen, what God asked of His people through the prophet Isaiah remains applicable to us today. We do not answer Him readily because we simply are not bothered to listen to Him.
People often assume that listening to God is of little value in dealing with the brokenness of this fallen world. To prove this theory of ours wrong, God sought a man, His Son, who would truly listen whenever He spoke. Listening to God removes our ignorance and leads us to wisdom. However, because we resist letting God open our ears, we continue to cling to outward practices instead of true obedience (1 Samuel 15:22). In contrast, Jesus Christ listened perfectly to His Father—and as a result, He spoke and lived in complete obedience.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.
Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll —
I have come to do your will, my God.’
Hebrews 10:5-7 (NIV)
Just as God gave Jesus a well-instructed tongue, He did the same for His people in the past. However, because they refused to listen, they lost the privilege of being used by God as His spokespeople. Therefore, God tells us that if we stop speaking unworthy words and start listening to Him, He is ready to make us His spokespeople once again.
Therefore this is what the LORD says:
“If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman. Let this people turn to you,
Jeremiah 15:19 (NIV)
From this, we understand that the Father taught His Son because we did not listen to Him. Yet, God has not stopped teaching us — He still calls us to listen to Him and to speak with wisdom, even before our enemies. For this reason, Jesus urges us not to worry or rehearse what we will say when we face opposition, trusting that God Himself will give us the words. While this promise is encouraging, should we not consider that if we do not cultivate a practice of listening to Him, how will we receive the right words in the hour of need?
But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it.
At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking,
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Matthew 10:19-20 (NIV)
If We Do Not Listen…
Even after God gave us His Son as our example in listening to Him, if we still remain unwilling to listen, He makes clear the true condition of our hearts.
It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me. Who will condemn me?
They will all wear out like a garment; the moths will eat them up.
Isaiah 50:9 (NIV)
It seemed as though God had forsaken His Son while people were crucifying Him. Yet, as Jesus said, “The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him” (Matthew 26:24a). We understand that He was crucified because of our sins—God allowed Him to be the atoning sacrifice for us.
But think about it, who actively condemned Jesus to death? It was the teachers of the Law and the religious leaders of the temple. They held firmly to the teachings of Moses but failed to recognize and receive the words of the Son of Man. They refused to renew their understanding of the Word of God with the teachings of the Son of Man—which would have equipped them to stand against temptation—and for this reason, they wore out like an old garment and were consumed by moths.
There is a clear lesson in this for us. God’s grace is new every morning. If we continue to rely only on past patterns and old ways of experiencing Him, we risk remaining stuck in yesterday’s understanding. Such a mindset will keep us from receiving the fresh light of God’s present truth and His ongoing instruction for our lives.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
Isaiah 43:19a (NIV)
When God does something new, we can recognize it only if we are truly listening to Him. Yet we have replaced listening with repetitive, mechanical prayers—informing God of what He already knows. What truly matters is not speaking more, but listening deeply—so we can understand His ways and allow Him to accomplish His purpose in us.
For this to happen, our bodies must become His temple, a dwelling place for His glory. If He does not dwell within us, we are not left empty—darkness will take that place. The evil one will not only enter but multiply his influence over time.
Why Listening To God’s Voice Is Important
Listening to God helps us understand how much He loves us. This understanding enables us to obey Him in all respects without any special effort. As sin entered into the lives of mankind through disobedience, the righteousness of God began to dwell in the lives of believers because of the obedience of Jesus. Jesus obeyed God even unto death on the cross because He learned to listen to His Father, which helped Him to obey. The author of the book of Hebrews underscores this idea in the following verse.
Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Hebrews 5:8-10 (NIV)
The following prayer of Jesus, confirms what the author of the book of Hebrews telling us:
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified
John 17:16-19 (NIV)
The Word became flesh, and astonishingly, for our sake, that Word — Jesus — continually sanctifies Himself in order to sanctify us, as we are the ones now representing Him and sent by Him into this world. Therefore, Jesus equips us with the power of the Word of God by teaching us to listen, understand, and obey the Word firsthand before we impart it to sanctify the lives of others. Without listening to His voice, obedience is not possible at all because when we do not listen to Him, we revolve in our own perception of a different world, mistaking it for true spirituality.
It may be unsettling to know that those most familiar with Scripture were often the most exposed to the torment of the devil. Knowledge of God’s Word, when not paired with a daily posture of listening to Him, does not guard the heart—it opens the door to deception. The teachers of the Law, though deeply learned, became tools in the enemy’s hands; in rejecting the living voice of God through His Son, they used the very Scriptures they knew to condemn Jesus Christ.
So let us ask ourselves whether our inner being is truly listening to His voice or merely echoing familiar truths. Are we making space for the fresh grace God pours out each morning, or are we too full of ourselves to receive it? Only a heart that listens is renewed—and only a life that is renewed can fulfill His greater purpose.
The Jordan Valley 
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