The message to the religious leaders of the day was a harsh one. Jesus basically tells them that they do not love him or hear him because they do not belong to God. By a direct statement, Jesus tells them since they do not belong to God; they must belong to the devil.The issue of hearing God is an important one. It really has two major impacts in our lives. The first is our initial hearing of God. God reveals himself to all men, as Scripture reminds us on many occasions. While many people struggle in that initial listening stage, salvation comes to those who listen and surrender. Those people who do not listen are Jesus’s audience in this passage; they continue to belong to the enemy. For many believers, after that initial call from the Lord, the listening stops and the talking begins. We now have this wonderful relationship with the God of the universe, and we are eternally grateful for what he has done for us. Our lives are changed, and we now have a freedom and joy never seen before. Our next step? We must show our appreciation by serving Him. We must now think of what it is He wants us to do. So we begin our thinking and wondering process. We look around at our talents and skills. We ask our friends and new Christian brothers what we might be good at. We begin this great list of activities and responsibilities, and we present them to God and say, “Here are my goals, my ideas for you to consider, the wish list of ideas from which you can choose my life’s goals.” Just as we began our relationship with our faithful Father, we need to continue it…by listening. He does not need our ideas or input on what we should do next. He needs the ears of our heart. God is patiently waiting to tell us exactly what we should do next, and we are too busy talking to him to hear what he has to say. Our responsibility after salvation is the same as before: LISTEN to the voice of God and respond to it. We can only listen when we have our mouths closed and we allow God to speak to our very being.