The Call

The night before last, we had toast for tea. Yep, just simple, homely toast.
"I really wanted to know that, not!"
Good. Because that's not what I wanted to tell you. Sometime during the meal, while I was munching on my slice thickly coated with avocado (as Dad would say, "You havin' some toast with ya avo?") and taking a part in the lively conversation going on around me, the distinct sound of the toaster 'popping' reached my ears. Without thinking I put my toast down and jumped up to answer the call of the toaster. As I took the step into the caravan part of our 'house', I realised what I had just done. I had responded to the sound of the toaster.
Yesterday, I was sitting squished between the table and the piano, working out the chords or practising a song. Ding - ding. This time it was the sharp message from my phone that shot at me through my ears. Without a thought I jumped up and followed the message of sound to wherever my phone was at the time. "There, i just did it again." I thought.
Last weekend, Dad preached a sermon entitled "Hearken". Hearken is a 'middle english' word that means to listen attentively; to give heed. One of the illustrations he used was 'the whistle'. Ever since we kids were little, Dad would call us with a whistle (Yes, like a dog.). He has two whistles. One is a short, gentle, almost quiet whistle that he uses to get our attention when we are nearby. This whistle means "look at me". Then there is the other whistle. It's a long LOUD piercing whistle that effectively brings us kids running from where ever we are - and this whistle goes a long way! This one means "drop what you're doing and come to me". And we understand that.
To hearken. Dad's point was that hearkening has three phases. To Hear. To Understand. To Act. In all of the above illustrations, I hearkened.
We hearken to lots of things in this world, but do we hear the most important call?

"Behold I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in..."

Revelation 3:20

Hearkening is contained in this verse. Jesus calls and we hear. Then we open the door. That is the action but to act, we must understand the call. Then he says, "I will come in and sup with thee!" Awesome! Who doesn't want Jesus sitting and eating with them? I do!

"But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil."

Proverbs 1:33

Let's all hear God's call to day and strive to understand and act on it. It's the best decision you could ever make!