“And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not,” Ezekiel 33:32.
Our pet dog is trained to ring a little bell hanging by the back door every time he needs to go outside. You would think that in a small house with six people living in it, there would always be someone available to respond to the ringing bell and open the back door to let out the dog. But, surprisingly, there are times when our poor dog rings the bell for five or even ten minutes straight, waiting for someone to open the door, even though there are four children who are in the same room. They all undoubtedly hear the bell, yet each child assumes that someone else will open the door for the dog. It is not until an adult yells above the volume of the music, TV or video game, “Somebody let the dog out!” that one of the children responds and opens the door.
God is always speaking to us. Like a persistent bell ringing in our ears, there is a constant, steady flow of guidance from God’s Word and Spirit, pouring into our hearts, giving us guidance, direction, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16, 17). Unfortunately, His Word does us no good unless we lower the volume of competing noises and listen with the intent to obey. And, every now and then, thankfully, mercifully, He raises His voice in our direction to prod us into a greater obedience. C. S. Lewis, in The Problem of Pain, said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
JUST A THOUGHT
Will you listen to God’s voice today with the intent to obey?
Mark Clements
In Spirit and In Truth The Word 
God Working in Us Unto Obedience
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. (Phi_2:12-13)
We have been considering from various perspectives the great truth that God wants us to grow in obedience to His will. The lordship of Jesus makes disobedience unacceptable. “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say? ” (Luk_6:46). Also, our Lord taught His early disciples to be instructing all future disciples concerning obedience: “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mat_28:20). Our present passage offers profound insight on this matter by describing God working in us unto obedience. “It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
This subject is introduced by a call to “work out your own salvation.” Notice, we are not called to work for our salvation. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace, freely received by faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph_2:8-9). Still, this gift of salvation that God has placed within us by His grace is to be worked out (developed outwardly) unto an obedient life, a life that fulfills “His good pleasure.”
This calling is to be approached in “fear and trembling.” Initially, our temptation may be to approach this request with unabashed self-confidence. Eventually, we begin to understand that we must respond in “fear” [a reverential awe] and “trembling” (a profound sense of inadequacy). The next phrase explains why we are to engage this responsibility with such unusual attitudes: “for it is God who works in you.” If the salvation that God has placed in our inner man is to ever become a visible walk that pleases Him, it will always be a result of us allowing Him to do an ongoing work deep within us. “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts . . . you are manifestly an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (Jer_31:33 and 2Co_3:3). This is the wonder of true Christian living. It is based upon God working within our hearts.
Dear Lord, I praise You for the precious gift of salvation You have poured into my heart. I earnestly desire that this gift be worked outwardly unto a life that is pleasing to You. Lord, please touch and shape the depths of my heart that I may obey You in all things, in Jesus name, Amen.
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