How’s Your Reception?

Have you ever wondered why some people seem so in touch with God?

There are people who talk about God like they have His cell phone number. You try to hear Him but all you’re picking up is the white noise of the universe. Maybe the problem is your receiver.

It’s hard to imagine with all the announcing that happened prior to the switch from analog to digital broadcasting but there are people in America who flick on their televisions and no longer receive any shows. Their sets work perfectly fine, they know how to turn them on and they’re plugged in but there is nothing on the screen but snow.

The signal is out there. It’s available. It’s in the air all around them but it cannot be translated without a proper receiver – a digital antennae or a conversion box.

Conversion. That’s the first thing any of us needs in order to receive God’s daily broadcast. John 1:12 says “Yet to all who received him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” So, first, check your soul’s receptor set-up. Are you willing to receive Jesus? When you do, it’s like plugging in to the proper antenna – suddenly the scrambled signal looks like something you can understand.

But suppose you have plugged in. You’ve received Christ into your heart but you still don’t feel in touch. There is another secret and I learned it from Randy Moss.

Before I started watching football – only the Patriot’s, mind you – I thought of receiving as a passive activity. Randy Moss changed all that.

Randy Moss is the receiver for the Pat’s and, believe me, he’s anything but passive. For every offensive play, Tom Brady is in charge. Tom Brady gets the ball and Tom Brady is in charge of throwing the ball but once it’s thrown, it needs a receiver to catch it and run it into the end zone. Otherwise, you’ve got a dead ball and Brady may just as well have stayed on the bench.

To receive those passes with the amazing regularity Moss does requires training, hours of grueling practice and focus and attention on Brady. Randy Moss works with Tom off the field. During the game, Moss dodges blockers, keeps his eye on Tom and maneuvers to become available to receive the pass. Randy has to filter out all diversions and focus on a single goal – placing himself in the most strategic position to receive.

As a believer, this is your task, as well. God wants to communicate with you just as badly as Tom Brady wants to get that ball out of his hands and into Randy Moss’s. Just like Randy, you must train, study God’s moves and patterns, throw off all diversions and blockers and position yourself to receive.

Start with studying how God has communicated with others so you can learn His patterns. The Bible is full of stories about great receivers. Then, practice by catching the messages about which God is direct and clear in scripture – run a few of those down the field. Love God with all your heart, your mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Do to others what you would have them do to you. Don’t be hearers of the word only but doers also.

Hearing from God is not a complicated thing but it requires a conversion of your receptor and some strategic moves on your part.

It’s a thing of beauty when that football flies out of Tom Brady’s hand, arcs down the field and lands like a dream in Randy Moss’s waiting hands. But nothing compares to the brilliance of the voice of God sailing through time and space as it arcs down through the cosmos and finds its mark in your open and waiting heart.