Several years ago, my husband and I were counseling with a drug addict.  The addict had messed up his life as well as his girlfriend’s life.  I asked the addict if he had ever flown on a plane before?  I then asked if he listened to the flight attendant as they make the statement, in regard to the oxygen masks, to make sure you have your mask on before you try to help those you are traveling with – the understanding is that you cannot help someone else with their oxygen mask if you are not taking in your own oxygen.  Was that message for the other people on the plane? Or was that message for me?

Have you ever been sitting in a church service, listening to the Preacher preach and the thought crosses your mind, “Oh man, so and so needs to be here – this message is for them!”

Maybe you feel a “prick” in your heart, but its so slight, you ignore it and begin to wonder why that person or this person was not in the service today.  After all, this sermon is just what they needed to hear! Right?!?!?!

Proverbs 26:9 states, “As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools.”   Instead of applying the message to our own lives; or listening to the Holy Spirit speak to our heart, we want to apply it to everybody else’s problems in life; our church, our employer, our spouse, our children, our friends.

As I read through the book of Proverbs, there are phrases that catch my attention and I think, “Hmmm, who needs this verse?”  When I should be asking the Holy Spirit, “Hmmm, LORD, what are you trying to tell me?”  The message is for me; to change my life; to change my thought process; to correct my attitude; to help me have a closer walk with my Savior.

As this new year of ’22 begins, try listening to your pastor’s sermons with the first thought of what message does God have for me today?  God had man write our Bible for each of us to be able to read and apply to our lives – to be more like Him.  Are you listening to the “still, small voice of the Holy Spirit”? Or are you so wrapped up in the thorns of the world, that you can’t hear the voice of the Holy Spirit? Is the message for you?