Thursday Thoughts: Nov. 6, 2025
By the Rev. Dr. Dennis E. Morey
Pastor, Faith Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Why won’t you listen?
Everyone who has ever been a parent has asked that question at one point or another.
Even though parents have knowledge and experience beyond that of the child, there are those times when the child insists on failure. The child can’t see the big picture, the long-term plan, or has chosen a different point of view and parents have little choice but to stand by and let it happen. It may be a decision such as not to study for a test, to skip school, date the wrong person, ignore the speed limit, eat too much, to use illegal drugs, run with the drinking crowd, or to start smoking.
Parents who care about their children try to point out to the child that there are many others who have lived longer who are testimony to the folly of such decisions. The child believes he or she is too smart to get caught, too strong and healthy to encounter illness, and too lucky to get hurt. The day will come when that child will join the statistics of those who have gotten behind in school and dropped out, those who pay increased insurance premiums because of traffic tickets, those who lose the driver’s license and spend time in jail, marry the person of their dreams only to later learn that person is a nightmare, and those who learn that addiction can overpower even the once invincible.
Why won’t they listen? Why won’t they be warned? Why do they have to find out for themselves? Although we are the smartest, tallest, and best-fed generation, we are not much different than those generations who have lived before us in our ability to learn from someone else’s experience.
As we read the Bible, we see time after time God warning the people and their ignoring the warning and going their own way. Collapse, sorrow, regret, and a cry for help always follow. Like a loving parent, God is there to call us back from our foolishness and invite us to come back to the way of life which springs from listening to God. Often we are like stubborn children insisting we can do what we are told not to do and not get hurt. God never stops loving us. God never turns us away when we return to say, “I’m sorry, please forgive me.”
God made a plan to restore us, offering forgiveness to any who will seek it. When Christ died, he died as the payment for sin. That payment can be applied to anyone who will forsake the sin, ask for forgiveness, and decide to begin paying attention to the life-plan God has given us in the Bible.
No one knows everything about the scriptures. Those who attend classes usually go to learn, so don’t be shy, join in. It will open a whole new thought process in regard to decision making. We don’t have to be like obstinate children demanding we are above the proven experiences of those who have lived before us. We can read God’s word and see ourselves in those stories. Our relationship to God will grow as we follow God’s advice.
Why won’t you listen? I’m sure that is a question God is asking each of us every day we are not reading and studying God’s word. Let’s be wise enough to follow our maker’s instruction. Are you ready to listen? See you here next week for more THURSDAY THOUGHTS.
