This is the time of the year when companies and organizations that operate on a calendar year budget start releasing their annual results and send out their annual report with an annual message from the CEO. The same happens in our government with the State of the Union message that occurred last week. As listeners and readers of these “annual messages” we intently focus on the words and the words behind the words and words between the words. We are looking for the message that is the “truth” that we can hang onto and from these set our own agendas. These annual messages become important for direction setting and also a tone or mood that gets set for the year, or at least for the time being. While there is usually some consistency in the messages from one year to another, there are usually new ideas and concepts that are introduced and we get to learn more about them as the year unfolds. Those that were not so successful from last year, fade or get glossed over and left out of the message. This is why it is important that we, on the receiving end, work as hard at listening, understanding, and comprehending the messages as the person who is delivering it. If not careful, we can find ourselves becoming lazy when it comes to taking in a message. We need to fight that tendency and be intellectually curious and desirous of the messages. The reason being is that we need to be aligned and in-step with the messages if we want to find ourselves being successful in our work. Those who don’t listen, or don’t care to listen, and then try to apply the messages to their own jobs and work can find themselves working hard, but working on the wrong things, or worse yet working counter to the overall organization’s mission and goals. Paul actually reinforces this messages in the book of Hebrews when he speaks of the messages that were/are being delivered about Christ, “So we must listen carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift from it.” Paul is telling us how to live our spiritual lives and if it is good enough for our spiritual pursuits, then we can carry the same principle to our earthly work. So, next time a message is being delivered that will have impact on you, take the extra time to listen. Read the speech or the letter all the way through and ask questions to assure your understanding of the topics. If you do this, beyond being better informed, you may find that the pursuit of the truth provides a new motivation in how you do your work.

Reference: Hebrews 2:1 (New Living Testament)