Listening to God and Living Out His Words

July 27, Thursday of 16th Week in Ordinary Time
Daily Readings: First reading: Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16–20b; Gospel: Matthew 13:16–17

One of my distractions in life is daydreaming. It usually happens when I am not interested in the subject the person is talking about or when I think my mind is just too powerful to create scenarios and bring my consciousness to them. Honestly, my daydreaming has both positive and negative effects on my life. The negative impact is that I became blind and deaf to reality. The positive effect sometimes became an inspiration.

What I would have lost if I had not listened was the essence of the message and the person's trust. It also means disrespect to the person because I am not paying attention to what he or she is saying. I feel guilty for offending people in this way. I also regret the times when I daydream too much and get lost in my mind, as I lose my connection to reality and cannot appreciate the present and be thankful for the blessings it has.

In the first reading of Exodus, Moses is giving instructions to the Israelites. Here we can see that through Moses, God wants his people to listen.

Usually, when I pray, it is very natural for me to talk, and the initiative for communication comes from me. Why not listen to God first and let God open the doorways of our spiritual life?

In the Gospel today, Jesus emphasizes the people who are inattentive to his words and simply don’t care. Jesus is inviting us not only to listen to his word but to live it out in our lives.

This is the challenge for most Christians today: do we still listen to the Word of God? If we have listened, to what extent can we live out the word of God?