"Shut The Door"

The story is told of a man who once went inside a telephone booth and dialed the number of a friend. When the connection was made, the friend kept saying, "I can't hear you; speak louder!"

All his friend could hear, was the sound of the roar of the traffic in the background. He then said, "Shut the door so I can hear you!"

Dear reader, for us to truly "hear" God's word and be totally committed to Him, we must learn to "shut the door" to the outside world (1 John 2:15-57; cf. Romans 12:2).

Worldly interests and enticements can distract us from effectively serving the Lord. So much so, that we may find ourselves forsaking the Lord if we're not careful (Hebrews 10:21-27; cf. Hebrews 3:6-13; 2 Timothy 4:10).

Let us set our minds on and seek first the things above (Colossians 3:1-2; Matthew 6:33), so that we can serve God with our "whole heart" (Numbers 14:15-24; Numbers 32:11-12; Deuteronomy 1:35-36) and not in pretense.

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets