In 1958, the Kingston Trio’s rendition of the folk song, Tom Dooley, hit #1 on the Billboard Pop Chart. I was seven years old and remember it well. I still know the chorus and, in those days, could have heard it only on the radio. That year, in our school play at Kenworth Elementary, I had the line,” Here comes Dr. Doolittle and some of his animals.” In one of our practices, I made the mistake of saying, “Here comes Tom Dooley and some of his animals.” Have you ever heard the Bible phrase, “laughed to scorn?” Yes, even my teacher laughed (no judgment, she was nice – it was funny – and I’m sure she was laughing with me…)
There is redemption in that I didn’t make the mistake in the play itself. I’ve also gotten humor mileage from the re-telling. My point is to illustrate how easily we are affected by our environment, especially WHAT WE HEAR.
Mark 4:24 (TLB) says about God’s word, “…be sure to put into practice what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand what I tell you.” So, there is a multiplication principle in hearing and doing God’s word. As we hear more and obey, we increase our understanding and make room for His revelation. As other “noise” in our culture becomes more easily accessible and gets LOUDER all the time, it makes sense that we need to ramp up our attention and intention in choosing good things to hear. If we prioritize God’s word, we are poised to bear fruit. Our HEARING (perceiving sounds) becomes LISTENING (paying attention to sounds and working at understanding their meanings), then DOING (putting into practice what we heard.) Let’s encounter His voice and avoid the noise.
By: Nan Robertson
~ Christ Fellowship