Whatever He says to you, do it. John 2:5 (NKJV)
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” is the first line of a speech by Mark Antony in the play Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare. Occurring in Act III, scene II, it is one of the most famous lines in all of Shakespeare’s works.
“Lend me your ears.” In other words, “Hear what I have to say.” The Bible also invites us:
Give ear and hear my voice,
Listen and hear my speech. Isaiah 28:23 (NKJV)
The Bible, however, goes a step further and asks us not just to hear but also to heed what is being said. Hearing and obeying are very closely related throughout the Bible. The New Testament word for ‘hear’ is akouo. The word for ‘obey’ is hupakouo, a compound word of two Greek words, hupo (‘under’) and akouo (‘to hear’). Therefore, to obey is ‘to hear under’. Obedience involves listening attentively with a heart of compliant submission and then acting on the word.
The message of hearing and obeying God’s voice runs right through the Bible. Jesus said:
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock… Matthew 7:24 (NKJV)
James tells us:
…be doers of the word, and not hearers only… James 1:22 (NKJV)
Mary, the mother of Jesus, gave us one of the greatest summations of obedience:
Whatever He says to you, do it. John 2:5 (NKJV)
Obedience is simply doing whatever He says to do. Right at the heart of the great Commissions we read the words “teaching them to obey”.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20 (NIVUK)
Obeying Jesus and teaching others to obey Him is central to disciple making.
Let’s hear and heed the Word of God today.