HBO!

When you hear the letters HBO, what comes to mind? Perhaps you immediately think of television. HBO is an American premium cable television network owned by Time Warner. The letters HBO stand for Home Box Office. In a sense it is movie theater in your living room (or whatever room your television is set up in). Though in our house we do have a cable connection for our computer use, the only means of television reception we have is the antenna on our roof. There are many programs we enjoy, but we don’t watch enough television to feel it is worth paying the extra money for all the other programming available. With all the channels out there I don’t know how anyone could possibly watch it all. However there are many who are fed through the television programming for a considerable number of hours every week.

What most are we allowing to feed us? Where is our focus most fixed? Is there an HBO that should mean something more significant to us? In a short article I came across by a Bill Dillon of Hickory Ridge, Arkansas, he suggested HBO to mean HEAR ( Romans 10:17), BELIEVE ( Hebrews 11:6), and OBEY ( 1 Samuel 15:22; John 14:15) as what we see people called to do in the New Testament and the exhortation still goes for today.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Rome we read…
“(14) But how are they to call on him in whom they have not BELIEVED? And how are they to BELIEVE in him of whom they have never HEARD? And how are they to HEAR without someone preaching? (15) And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ (16) But they have not all OBEYED the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has BELIEVED what he has HEARD from us?’ (17) So FAITH COMES FROM HEARING, and HEARING through THE WORD OF CHRIST.” ( Romans 10:14-17 ESV)

From Paul’s statement we should easily see how important the HEARING is. By HEARING, our faith develops, but we must remember it is not simply through HEARING a preacher or teacher has to say, but through HEARING “the word of Christ.”

The essentiality of BELIEVING was made clear by the Hebrew writer when he stated…

“And WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM, for whoever would draw near to God MUST BELIEVE that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” ( Hebrews 11:6 ESV)

We’ve got to BELIEVE and have faith in order to please God and that faith comes by HEARING “the word of Christ”, but what does our willingness to OBEY then reveal?

John exhorted…
“(2) By this we know that we love the children of God, when we LOVE GOD AND OBEY HIS COMMANDMENTS. (3) For THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD, that we KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. And his commandments are not burdensome.” ( 1 John 5:2-3 ESV)

Certainly everything on HBO (Home Box Office) is not worth hearing, nor believing, or obeying. However, when it comes to God’s Word any of it that we HEAR we would do well to readily BELIEVE and OBEY. May we keep God’s Word ever before us!

Have a great day MAINTAINING CLEAR RECEPTION FOR GOD’S WORD!
Carl

See other teEn-MAIL on Receptiveness