by Betsy Roy
What comes first in your life? If you a Christian woman you probably will answer “God, family, work…..”. Next question – What is your first thought when you wake up and what is the first thing you do in morning? Is it reach for the cell phone and check your messages? check Facebook, Instagram, Twitter? I’m guilty! As I searched online for images of women lying in bed reaching for a cell phone I found a lot of them. I didn’t find even one image of a woman lying in bed reaching for a Bible.
Now I’m not saying that looking at your cell phone first or checking Facebook is sin. But, it is a matter of priority and what is entering your mind FIRST thing in the morning. Our actions are a reflection of what is on our heart. When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment is he began by quoting Deuteronomy 6: 4 & 5. The first word is “hear” (shema in Hebrew). The word “shema” means more than the auditory hearing of sound. It means to listen and obey. In other words to do what you are hearing. James 2 teaches us that faith apart from works is dead. So we see that hearing, faith and doing are all connected. What we listen to does affect our faith and therefore also our actions.
The Bible teaches us in Romans 10:17 that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God”. So faith increases as we hear (listen and obey) the Word of God. 
I am challenging myself to not only read more of God’s Word, but also to “hear” it (listen to it and obey it). Will you take up the challenge? Instead of turning on the radio in your car to listen to music (even Christian music) or talk, why not listen to God’s Word FIRST? Here’s a great website to do just that – “Faith comes by Hearing” – where you can listen to the Bible in various forms, including dramatized, and in many languages. Yep, they’ve got an “app” too!
There just is something about hearing God’s Word in audio form. You can also read the Bible OUT LOUD! When your inner ear hears what your mouth is saying it builds faith! Give it a try today! And let’s spend more time in the Bible than we do on social media. Our face needs to be in THE Book more than on Facebook. God’s Word has transformed my life and it will transform yours too as you listen and obey. A personal favorite is Psalm 119. Verse 11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”
“I prayed for Faith, and thought that some day Faith would come down and strike me like lightning. But Faith did not seem to come. One day I read in the tenth chapter of Romans, ‘Now Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God’. I had closed my Bible, and prayed for Faith. I now opened my Bible, and began to study, and Faith has been growing ever since. ” ~D.L. Moody
Betsy Roy is the Director of Women of the Word, a Christian Women’s Conference Ministry. She lives near Springfield, MA with her husband Jim. They have 3 daughters and 3 grand-children.
