When speaking and listening are the same thing

Recently, I’ve started reading the Bible out loud to my kids.  As you might guess, based on the devotions I’ve posted, we are going through Matthew.  Because my kids are rowdy and loud and have short attention spans, I try to make the reading interesting (which is how I think all readings should be).  I usually read loud and strong but when we approached the Sermon on the Mount, I had to switch it up since it’s Jesus speaking and He is delivering a message with lessons and fresh teachings, and this sort of thing needs to be spoken differently.  So, in my best acting and explanatory tone, I began Matthew chapter 5.

A strange thing happens when you’re essentially acting out Jesus’ words.  You speak them differently than you would if you just read them silently to yourself.  You find yourself emphasizing words in a way that you might otherwise not; you notice themes and language that you might otherwise pass over.  You actually start to listen to the message behind the words.

  I encourage you to try it.  Don’t just read the lines, act them out as if you were Jesus.  Imagine how YOU would say them if you were speaking to a crowd of hundreds of people.  As all good orators know, you wouldn’t just drone on and on in a monotone voice, you would use hand gestures and tone inflections and pauses for effect.  You would speak louder in some parts, and softer in others. Act out the words and listen.  Listen for how the Holy Spirit will enable you to hear the words anew, regardless of how many other hundreds of times you’ve heard or read them.  Listen for how God will reveal to you, afresh, how these words can be applied in your life.  Listen for the voice of Jesus in the verses. 

That is what we really want to hear, right? We want to hear Him speak as if He is speaking to us.  We want to have His words penetrate into our hearts so we can learn more about who He is and how we can become more like Him.  The other day, I was reading aloud, expounding to my small crowd as I imagined Jesus might do, and I spoke about not swearing on anything but letting our YES be our YES… and I had to stop.  Immediately, I heard Jesus’ response to a problem I’d been struggling with… I’m not fully committed; I haven’t let my YES be YES. There, in the middle of my little drama, I heard Jesus’ words as clearly as if they were my own.  I heard the Holy Spirit speak because I was really listening.

The Holy Spirit will reveal God’s Word to you if you are listening well and one way to listen well is to speak it.  

With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on your precepts and consider ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.   ~Psalm 119:13-16