The History of the People of God - 3. Listening and Obeying Faith

WORD 2day: Wednesday, First week in Ordinary time

January 10, 2024 - 1 Samuel 3:1-10,19-20; Mark 1: 29-39

In the history of the people of God, one characteristic that sets the people apart as belonging to God is their capacity to listen to the Lord and obey the Lord's commands. That is what generates them, or regenerates them, raising them up to the status of the people of God, from a state that is common to all human persons. 

Today we come across in the Word, the popular episode which has given rise to the most typical phraseology in spiritual growth - "speak Lord, Thy servant is listening!" As we already pointed out, that attitude is outlined as the basic disposition of the people of God. Eli instructs the little boy Samuel in this act of self disposition to the promptings of the Lord - it comes across to us as a symbolic event that presents to us a people, who were learning to be, and growing up to own the identity of, the people of God. 

Jesus in the Gospel, brings to our attention an important and indispensable implication of this basic disposition that we reflected upon. Just listening is not enough; people of God obey! People of God are those who obey what the Lord wants of them. For Jesus this is was an absolute in life - he would indeed repeat often that only those who listen to the words of the Lord and put them into practice can be called the children of God and only they are eligible to enter the portals of the Reign. He did not only preach this, he lived it for the community to see. He prayed all night and in the morning set about living what he heard or listened from the Lord - "because that is why I came," he affirmed. 

Listening to the Lord and Obeying the voice of the Lord - is a fundamental experience and characteristic trait that makes us people of God. Are we on our way?