Christ The King Lutheran Church

09/13/2026

09/11/2026

Friday September 11
Christ's Love Compels Us

2 Corinthians 5:14–15
For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him.

We have spent this week thinking about our Kingdom identity, our perspective, our mission, and the urgency of God's calling.

But we need to end where Paul begins:

“Christ's love compels us.”

That is the engine behind everything.

Christian service can easily become another burden.

I need to do more.

I need to serve more.

I need to evangelize more.

I need to be a better Christian.

I need to fulfill my Kingdom calling.

But that isn't Paul's emphasis.

Paul doesn't say, “Your guilt compels you.”

He doesn't say, “Your fear compels you.”

He doesn't say, “Other people's expectations compel you.”

He says:

“Christ's love compels us.”

Before Christ asks anything of us, He has already given Himself for us.

He died for all.

He reconciled us to God.

He made us new.

He claimed us as His own.

And now His love moves us outward.

Think about the difference.

A person who serves because they are afraid they are not doing enough is driven by fear.

A person who serves because they are trying to earn God's favor is driven by guilt.

But a person who knows, “God has already loved me in Christ”, is free to love others.

The Gospel creates a different kind of motivation.

We don't serve so that God will love us.

We serve because God has loved us.

We don't represent Christ so that we can become His children.

We represent Christ because we already are His children.

We don't seek first the Kingdom so that God will take care of us.

We seek first the Kingdom because Jesus has promised that our heavenly Father knows what we need (Matthew 6:32–33).

That changes everything.

Tomorrow you will go somewhere.

You will talk to someone.

You will work, rest, serve, parent, volunteer, shop, drive, or perhaps simply sit with someone who needs you.

Wherever you go, Christ goes with you.

And His love goes with you.

So receive His love.

See people through His eyes.

Represent Him faithfully.

And respond to the opportunities He gives you.

Christ's love compels us.

Reflect:
1. What tends to motivate my service—love, guilt, fear, duty, or something else?

2. How does Christ's finished work on the cross free me to serve without trying to earn God's approval?

3. Where is Christ calling me to live for Him today?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for loving me and giving Yourself for me. When I am tempted to serve You out of guilt or fear, turn my eyes again to Your cross. Fill me with the joy of knowing that I am already Yours. Let Your love move me to love others. Use my ordinary life, my relationships, and my vocations for the sake of Your Kingdom. Amen.

Kingdom Calling for Today:
Begin the day with these words: “Christ has loved me. Christ has claimed me. Christ is with me. Now, Lord Jesus, love others through me.”

09/10/2026

Thursday September 10
Kingdom Opportunities Are Often Interruptions

Acts 8:30–31
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked.

Philip probably didn't wake up that morning expecting to have an evangelistic conversation with an Ethiopian official.

The Holy Spirit simply told him to go toward a particular road.

Then Philip encountered a man reading Isaiah.

One ordinary moment became a Kingdom opportunity.

Philip listened. He asked a question. He opened Scripture. He told the man about Jesus. And ultimately the man was baptized.

Sometimes we imagine Kingdom calling as something we need to schedule.

We need the right program.

The right event.

The right opportunity.

The right training.

But often God's Kingdom work happens in the interruptions of ordinary life.

A conversation that takes longer than expected.

A neighbor who suddenly needs help.

A coworker who shares a personal struggle.

A grandchild who asks a surprising question.

A friend who says, “Would you pray for me?”

A person who simply needs someone to listen.

Those moments may not feel particularly spiritual. But they can become places where Christ works.

Paul says, “Now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Not someday.

Not when life becomes less busy.

Not after retirement.

Not when we finally feel qualified.

Now.

Christ has already placed you where He wants you. You don't have to manufacture Kingdom opportunities. Keep your eyes and ears open for the ones He provides.

Philip didn't save the Ethiopian.

Jesus did.

Philip simply faithfully entered the opportunity God gave him.

That is encouraging because our calling isn't to save people. Our calling is to faithfully point people to the Savior.

Reflect:
1. What interruptions in my life might actually be opportunities God has provided?

2. Is there someone I know who may need encouragement, prayer, or a listening ear?

3. What keeps me from recognizing Kingdom opportunities?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, open my eyes today. Help me recognize the people and opportunities You place before me. Keep me from being so busy with my plans that I miss Your invitations to love and serve. Give me the words I need when opportunities arise, and remind me that Jesus is the One who saves. Amen.

Kingdom Calling for Today:
When your plans are interrupted today, pause before becoming frustrated and ask: “Lord, is this an opportunity You have given me?”

09/09/2026

Wednesday September 9
Christ's Ambassador in Ordinary Places

2 Corinthians 5:20
We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.

When we hear the word ambassador, we may imagine someone living in a foreign country, representing the United States in an important embassy.

Paul uses that picture to describe every Christian.

“We are Christ's ambassadors.”

That sounds important—and it is. But it doesn't necessarily mean we need to do something dramatic.

Your embassy may be your kitchen.

Your mission field may be your workplace.

Your place of service may be your neighborhood.

Your opportunity may be a conversation with a friend, a phone call to a family member, or a quiet act of kindness.

Daniel is a wonderful example. He lived in Babylon, far from his homeland and surrounded by a culture that did not share his faith. Yet Daniel faithfully served in the government of a pagan empire.

Daniel 6:3 says that he distinguished himself because of his exceptional qualities.

His vocation put him in a position to represent God in a place where many people did not know the true God.

Daniel didn't have to leave his vocation to serve God. His vocation became the place where he served God.

That is an important distinction.

Your Kingdom calling is not necessarily something you do instead of your everyday responsibilities. Often it is what Christ does through you in those responsibilities.

A Christian employer can serve Christ by treating employees justly.

A Christian parent can serve Christ by loving and teaching a child.

A Christian retiree can serve Christ through encouragement, hospitality, prayer, and service.

A Christian employee can serve Christ through honesty and integrity.

A Christian neighbor can serve Christ simply by being attentive to the needs of those around him.

And when the opportunity arises, we can speak about the hope we have in Jesus.

Christ has reconciled us to God. Now He makes His appeal through us.

What a privilege.

Reflect:
1. Where has God placed me in my everyday life?

2. Who are the people God has placed around me?

3. How might I represent Christ through my words, attitudes, work, and relationships today?

Prayer: Father, thank You for placing me in the relationships and responsibilities I have today. Help me remember that I represent Christ wherever I go. Give me integrity in my work, kindness in my relationships, and courage to speak when You give me an opportunity. Work through me to make Your appeal to others. Amen.

Kingdom Calling for Today:
Before entering your workplace, neighborhood, or next significant activity, pray: “Lord Jesus, help me represent You well here.”

09/08/2026

💙 The Caregivers Conference is coming up soon! 💙
Caring for a loved one can be rewarding, challenging, and sometimes overwhelming. You don’t have to do it alone!

Join us for our Caregivers Conference, featuring FREE skill-building and informative workshops designed specifically for family members caring for a loved one.

✨ Practical skills
💡 Helpful information
🤝 Connection with other caregivers
❤️ Encouragement for the journey

This FREE conference is coming up soon, and we’d love to have you join us!
👉 Register today!

09/08/2026

Tuesday September 8
See People Differently

2 Corinthians 5:16
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.

We all have ways of categorizing people.

Successful or unsuccessful. Likeable or difficult. Friend or enemy. Useful or unimportant. Someone like me or someone very different from me.

Paul says that Christ changes the way we see people.

Jesus demonstrated this repeatedly. Consider Zacchaeus. The crowd saw a tax collector—a man associated with greed, compromise, and Roman oppression. They saw someone who was not worthy of Jesus' attention.

Jesus saw something different.

He saw a man who needed grace.

Jesus went to Zacchaeus' house and brought salvation to him and his household (Luke 19:1–10). Jesus didn't approve of Zacchaeus' sinful life. But neither did He define Zacchaeus by his sin.

That is what the Gospel does for us. Christ has taught us to see people not merely according to their appearance, reputation, politics, occupation, personality, or past.

We see them as people for whom Christ died.

That can radically change our Kingdom calling.

The difficult coworker is someone for whom Christ died.

The irritating neighbor is someone for whom Christ died.

The family member who frustrates us is someone for whom Christ died.

The person who sees the world very differently from us is someone for whom Christ died.

And, of course, we are people for whom Christ died.

Seeing people differently doesn't mean ignoring sin or pretending that difficult behavior isn't difficult. It means looking at people through the eyes of the cross.

Jesus didn't merely tell us to love people. He first loved us.

And “Christ's love compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14).

His love changes the way we see—and therefore the way we speak, listen, forgive, serve, and respond.

Reflect:
1. Who is one person I am tempted to see primarily through a worldly point of view?

2. How might my attitude toward that person change if I remember that Christ died for them?

3. How has Christ patiently treated me when I have been difficult?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, You looked upon me in my sin and loved me enough to die for me. Give me Your eyes as I look at the people around me today. Help me see them as people created by God and loved by Christ. Give me patience, compassion, and courage to love them in the places where You have placed me. Amen.

Kingdom Calling for Today:
Choose one difficult or overlooked person and deliberately look for one way to show that person the love of Christ.

09/07/2026

Monday September 7
You Are a New Creation

2 Corinthians 5:17
If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

One of the most important questions we can ask is, “Who am I?”

We often answer that question by describing what we do. In fact, Labor Day affirms that the work we perform is important. Our occupations (parent, teacher, nurse, engineer, manager, caregiver, pilot, coach, etc.) matter. They are part of the vocations in which God has placed us. But they are not our deepest identity.

Paul tells us that if we belong to Christ, we are a new creation.

That means your identity does not ultimately depend upon your occupation, accomplishments, failures, age, income, abilities, or what other people think of you. Your identity is found in Christ.

This is important for understanding our Kingdom calling. We don't begin by asking, “What great thing does God want me to accomplish?” We begin with what God has already accomplished for us in Christ.

Through Jesus' death and resurrection, God has reconciled us to Himself. In Baptism, He claimed us as His own. We belong to Christ.

Only then do we begin to ask, “How does Christ want to use me where He has placed me?”

Joseph experienced this throughout his life. He was a favored son, a slave, a servant in Potiphar's house, a prisoner, and eventually a ruler in Egypt. His circumstances and responsibilities changed dramatically. But one thing remained constant: the Lord was with Joseph (Genesis 39:2, 21, 23).

Your vocation may change. Your circumstances may change. Your abilities may change. But your identity in Christ does not.

You are Christ's.

And because you are Christ's, wherever He places you becomes a place where you can live out your Kingdom calling.

Reflect:
1. What roles or accomplishments am I tempted to make the foundation of my identity?

2. What difference does it make today to remember, “I am a new creation in Christ”?

3. Where has God placed me right now where He can work through me?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for making me Your own. Forgive me when I find my identity in what I do rather than in what You have done for me. Help me live today as Your new creation. Use me in the ordinary places and relationships where You have placed me. Amen.

Kingdom Calling for Today:
Before you begin your day, remind yourself: “I belong to Christ. Today I will live out that identity wherever He places me.”

09/06/2026

09/04/2026

Friday September 4
The Lord Is My Helper

Hebrews 13:5-6
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”

What would change if you really believed that God would never leave you?

Not simply that God is watching from a distance.

Not simply that God knows what you are going through.

But that He is with you.

Hebrews says:

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear.”

Notice the connection.

God's presence produces courage.

The Christian's confidence isn't based on knowing that everything will go the way we want.

It is based on knowing that we will never face anything alone.

This brings us back to the Big Rock of the sermon series at Christ the King:

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Matthew 6:33

Jesus is King.

Therefore, we can release our grip.

We can stop trying to control everything.

We can stop carrying everyone else's burdens.

We can stop pretending that we have to have all the answers.

We can stop living as though everything depends upon us.

Instead, we can receive the gracious rule of our King.

He knows what matters most.

He knows what you need.

He knows what tomorrow holds.

He knows the people you love.

He knows your fears.

He knows your failures.

And He promises:

“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

So as you finish this week's journey, take a moment to breathe deeply and remember:

Jesus is here.

You are not alone.

Your life is not out of His hands.

Your future is not out of His hands.

And you don't have to carry what belongs to Him.

Reflect:
What would you do differently today if you truly believed, “The Lord is my helper”?

Pray: Lord Jesus, thank You for Your promise that You will never leave me. Teach me to trust You with my burdens, my relationships, my future, and my fears. Help me seek Your kingdom first and live today in the freedom of knowing that I belong to You. Amen.

09/03/2026

Thursday September 3
God Has Tomorrow

Isaiah 40:6-8
A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All people are like grass,
and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever.”

Much of our anxiety comes from trying to live in tomorrow.

We imagine what might happen.

We try to prepare for every possibility.

We attempt to control circumstances that haven't even arrived.

But Scripture reminds us that everything around us is temporary.

Grass withers.

Flowers fade.

Circumstances change.

Our plans change.

People change.

But the Word of our God will stand forever.

That gives us something solid on which to stand.

The world around us is constantly changing, but God's promises do not.

His mercy will be there tomorrow.

His presence will be there tomorrow.

His forgiveness will be there tomorrow.

His love will be there tomorrow.

Most importantly, Jesus will be there tomorrow.

So we don't have to carry tomorrow today.

Jesus is already there.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:1-3. Seek the things that are above, where Christ is. That's where our attention belongs—not because earthly responsibilities don't matter, but because Christ gives us an eternal perspective from which to face them. Like a person who climbs a hill to get a different view of the valley, so Christ enables us to see the situations around us from His perspective.

Today is enough.

Psalm 118 says: “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Receive today as God's gift. Tomorrow belongs to Him.

Reflect:
What future circumstance are you trying to control today? Can you entrust tomorrow to the Christ who is already there?

Pray: Father, I confess that I often live in tomorrow instead of receiving the gift of today. Help me trust Your promises and leave the future in Your hands. Give me grace to live faithfully today. Amen.

09/02/2026

Wednesday September 2
The Speck and the Log

Matthew 7:1-5
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Jesus has a way of getting our attention.

A speck.

A log.

We can see the speck in someone else's life from a great distance. But somehow the log in our own eye becomes invisible.

Why?

Because it is easier to focus on someone else's shortcomings than to face our own.

We can become experts at diagnosing other people's problems while remaining blind to our own.

Jesus doesn't say this because He doesn't care about sin. He says it because He cares about us.

He wants to free us from the exhausting burden of comparison, criticism, and self-righteousness.

Think about how much energy we spend judging others.

What if we surrendered that energy to God?

What if instead of asking, “Why don't they change?” we prayed, “Lord, what do You want to change in me?”

What if instead of rehearsing someone else's failure, we remembered our own need for grace?

And what if, having received grace from Jesus, we looked at others through those same eyes of grace?

The Gospel changes how we see people.

We are not people who have everything together looking down on people who don't.

We are sinners who have been rescued by Jesus.

That gives us humility.

And humility gives us freedom.

Reflect:
Whose “speck” have you been thinking about lately? Is God inviting you to surrender your judgment of that person to Him?

Pray: Lord Jesus, forgive me for the times I have been quick to see the faults of others and slow to see my own. Give me the humility to receive Your grace and extend that grace to others. Amen.

09/01/2026

Tuesday September 1
He Cares for You

1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

There are many things we will cast away without hesitation.

Trash.

Old newspapers.

Things we no longer need.

But anxiety is different.

We tend to hold onto it.

We replay conversations. We imagine possible disasters. We wonder what might happen. We rehearse problems we cannot solve.

And sometimes we think that worrying proves we care.

But Peter gives us a different way to care.

Cast your anxieties on God.

Why?

Because He cares for you.

That little phrase is the heart of the promise.

God doesn't ask us to give Him our anxiety because He is distant or indifferent. He asks us to give it to Him because He loves us.

Think about the cross.

God's care for you isn't merely a feeling or an idea. It has a name: Jesus.

God did not spare His own Son but gave Him for us. At the cross, God demonstrated the depth of His love.

So when anxiety says, “God doesn't care,” look at the cross.

When anxiety says, “You are on your own,” look at the cross.

When anxiety says, “Everything depends on you,” look at the cross.

God cares for you.

You are not carrying your life alone.

Reflect:
What anxiety keeps returning to your mind today? What would it mean to cast that anxiety on God rather than continue carrying it?

Pray: Lord Jesus, thank You for showing me the Father's love through Your cross. When anxiety comes, remind me that I am not alone. Help me cast my anxieties on You because You care for me. Amen.

08/31/2026

Monday August 31
The Burden You Were Never Meant to Carry

Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you.

We all carry burdens.

Some are obvious. Others are hidden.

There may be something you have been thinking about for weeks or months. A relationship that concerns you. A decision you need to make. A financial worry. A concern about someone you love. A regret from the past. A question about the future.

Sometimes we become so accustomed to carrying our burdens that we forget they are burdens.

God never intended us to carry them alone.

Psalm 55 does not tell us to manage our burdens better. It says to cast them on the Lord.

There is something wonderfully active about that word. We don't merely acknowledge our burdens. We hand them over.

Why can we do that?

Because the psalm gives us the promise: “He will sustain you.”

God doesn't promise that He will immediately remove every difficult circumstance. But He promises something even more important: He will sustain His children in the midst of them.

You don't have to know how everything will turn out before you trust God.

You simply need to know the One to whom you are entrusting it.

Today, name one burden you have been carrying. Then deliberately place it in God's hands.

You might even pray:

“Father, this burden is too heavy for me. I give it to You. Sustain me today.”

You may have to pray that prayer more than once.

That's okay.

Every time the burden returns, return it to the Father.

Reflect:
What burden have you been carrying that you need to consciously give to God today?

Pray: Father, I confess that I often try to carry what belongs in Your hands. Help me trust You. Take my burdens and sustain me today. Through Jesus, my Savior. Amen.

08/30/2026

08/28/2026

Friday August 28

Hebrews 4:7b (Psalm 95:7b–8a)
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

In Scripture, sometimes the word “today” is not about hours and minutes. Sometimes it is an eternal moment into which God is speaking. His voice is not merely something others heard once upon a time, nor is it simply something we must wait until heaven to hear. God assumes you will hear His voice. What He does not assume, however, is what will happen next. He warns us, “When you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

A hard heart does not necessarily begin with an outright rejection of God. Scripture describes something more subtle. It warns us not “to be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews3:13). Sin is deceitful because it captures our attention by promising something good while gradually turning our hearts away from God. We can become preoccupied with pleasures, comforts, achievements, possessions, recognition, security, or even our own problems.

The problem is not that the object of our attention is intrinsically evil. The danger comes when a good gift becomes the object of obsessive desire—when our hearts begin to say, “I must have this in order to be okay.” When something begins to occupy our thoughts repeatedly, we obsess. We turn it over in our minds. We imagine what it would be like to have it, or we fear losing it, or resent someone who possesses it, or become consumed with figuring out how to obtain it.

At that point, something else is happening beneath the surface. Gratitude is gone. Our heart is becoming hardened against God, our Father, the giver of every good gift. A hardened heart is not simply a heart that refuses to believe. It is a heart that has become less responsive to God's voice because something else has become more compelling.

If sin narrows our attention around some created thing, Christ enlarges our hearts by directing our attention toward something infinitely greater: His love. The antidote to the obsessive desires that harden our hearts is therefore not merely greater self-discipline. It is a deeper appreciation of Christ's love. In the New Covenant, God does not merely command us to have better hearts. He keeps His promise to give us a new heart, along with the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, when we discover our hearts becoming preoccupied with something other than God, we do not need to despair. We can repent. Repentance means bringing our actual thoughts and desires into the light of God's Word:

“Lord, I have been thinking about this constantly.”

“Lord, I have begun to believe that I cannot be happy without this.”

“Lord, I have allowed this achievement to become the measure of my worth.”

“Lord, I have been looking to this comfort to give me the peace that only You can give.”

And then we can give thanks. Not because our hearts are already perfect, but because Christ has died for our sins and is has been raised to deliver to us a righteousness that is from God and is ours by faith. We can thank God for the new heart He has given us in Christ. We can thank Him that His Spirit dwells within us. We can thank Him that we are not abandoned to the tyranny of our obsessive desires. So “renewing” our participation in the New Covenant is not a matter of trying to manufacture a new heart every morning. It is returning in faith to the covenant God has already established in Christ.

Prayer: Good Shepherd, today give me ears to hear Your voice with a heart that does not become hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Teach me to recognize when good gifts have become objects of obsessive desire, and give me grace to repent and return to You. Thank You for the New Covenant established in Christ, for the forgiveness of my sins, and for the new heart and new spirit You have given me by Your grace. Renew in me each day gratitude for what You have already done. Enlarge my heart to know the breadth, length, height, and depth of Christ's love—a love that is greater than every pleasure, comfort, achievement, or security I could ever pursue. Amen.

08/27/2026

Thursday, August 27

John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Sheep survive by knowing the voice of their shepherd. There is an animal attachment, a bond. They follow the familiar voice because they have gotten conditioned. The lambs learn to recognize the voice of their own shepherd by observing how their mothers and other sheep from their own flock respond to that voice. But eventually, and recurringly, each lamb will receive individual attention from their own shepherd, deepening the bonded attachment. Not only will the sheep know their shepherd, but their shepherd will also know them, each one of them, by name.

This metaphor reminds us that Christian faith is more than possessing correct information about Jesus. It is knowing the Lord who knows us. The same attachment and bonding systems that are hard-wired into us for forming families is what the Lord taps into as we become His followers. His Word does not merely communicate facts to us; through His Word and Sacrament, as “his Spirit bears witness with our spirit” (Romans 8:16), our Lord connects to those deeper bonding systems in our brains and bodies.

Baptism in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit enacts God’s promise to send the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to give us knowledge of our spiritual Father. The Holy Spirit enables us to recognize and receive the Shepherd's voice. Christians have received not “the spirit of the world,” but “the Spirit who comes from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

Our Good Shepherd says He came that we might have life and have it abundantly. However, without the Holy Spirit how can we accurately gauge and be grateful for what the Lord gives us? Sometimes He gives us a cross to bear. At the time it may seem the furthest thing from what we imagine the abundant life to be. But sheep who hear their Shepherd’s voice take up their cross and follow Him because they trust the One who goes before them. No matter what, He is Good.

Through the Holy Spirit and the message of Christ crucified, we begin to see reality from the perspective of the Shepherd. We value what He values. We learn to see the cross not as foolishness but as the wisdom and power of God. We learn to regard others not merely according to what they can do for us, but as people for whom Christ died. The Spirit takes what belongs to Christ and makes it known to us. He opens our ears to the Shepherd's voice so that His Word shapes our thoughts, desires, decisions, and lives. This also changes the way we respond to God's Word. We do not come to Scripture merely asking, “What information can I get from this?” We come asking, “What is my Shepherd saying to me?” How is He showing me His love? What is He saying to me in His Word about following Him? Who does He want me to pray for?