October 31, 2023
There’s a spiritual trumpet being sounded for Jesus followers, a call to mobilise — telling us to put aside apathy, to pray and to listen to what the Lord may be saying
Sounding a trumpet is universally recognised as a call to attention — a warning, a call to readiness or even mobilisation against a threat.
It carries the sense of a solemn warning; to choose not to respond will bring judgment of one sort or another.
There is a spiritual trumpet call being sounded. Most people will not be aware of it, but those who love God, who name Jesus as their Lord, and who talk to God and hear Him in prayer are hearing this new sound. It is the sound of urgency.
How do we respond? The great majority of people do not attend church. They do not see themselves as belonging. This call is not for them – yet.
The word ‘mobilisation’ has become all too familiar to us recently, along with the other jargon of war and battle. That spiritual trumpet sound is like that call to mobilise — whatever that means for Jesus followers.
At the lowest level it is telling us to pray, to put aside our apathy and to listen with closer attention to what the Lord may be saying. It is an instruction to be ready to move, from reliance on routine to adopting a different pattern.
We do this at the changing of the clocks at this time of year. This is a spiritual shift coming, a change to a new pattern. The Lord wants everyone listening, everyone readying themselves for what He wants of us.
Following His telling of the parable story how seeds can fall on four different kinds of ground — speaking of how readily we accept His word — Jesus used this memorable expression: "Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand."
Mark 4:9 NLT
And when challenged about holding too lightly the importance of traditional religious rituals, Jesus taught a different emphasis, saying: “People honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me… Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. "All of you listen," He said, "and try to understand.”
Mark 7:6,14 NLT
He is calling us to pause our busy routines and church rituals, to be still, and listen afresh to catch what He is saying to us today.