How is Your Shema Muscle?

Pronounced sh MA, and spelled שְׁמַע in Hebrew, shema is the imperative form of the verb ‘to hear’. Shema, in the simplest terms, means ‘to hear’. The Hebrew word pronunciation sounds more like “sh’-mah”. But it also means to obey and take action. So, to hear God is to obey God — and to obey God is to hear God. — Fellowship of Israel Related Ministries (FIRM)

If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you may wonder why I’m giving a language lesson in Hebrew since this is not my normal mode of operation. Well, have I got an exciting story for you today! Okay, maybe not exciting, but it sure is interesting — especially if you’re a word nerd like me!

In July, I was at a conference for Christian speakers and writers in Michigan. On the last day, the keynote speaker was talking about Deuteronomy 6:4. In English, this is what we read, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”

She shared with us that as English speakers, we can easily miss the very deep meaning of that first word “hear” because we don’t realize all that the Hebrew language pours into this one word. There is such richness to this word and once you learn it, you will never read this verse the same way again!

As we learned, the Hebrew word shema is imperative, so for everyone who is not a grammar nerd like me, this means that when we read the word ‘hear’, it is not just the act of hearing what is being said but it is two things wrapped into one — to hear God is to obey and vice versa — to obey God is to hear God.

There is no middle step. There is no negotiating or procrastination or delaying.

We hear and we obey.

I was so deeply struck by this!

In fact, I’m pretty sure the speaker went on for several more minutes before my brain and ears caught up to what she was saying because I couldn’t get over what I’d just learned!

To hear God is to obey God. What?! You mean that when I don’t immediately do what He has told me to do that I am sinning? I had honestly never thought of it this way and I was completely dumbstruck!

I started meditating on that simple lesson — that the Hebrew word ‘shema’ which translates into the English word ‘hear’ actually means two things:

to hear God is to obey God.

The more I thought about that concept the more I realized that it’s similar to the muscles in my body. When I go to the gym and use weights, my muscles work very hard and it rarely feels easy. I give them a day of rest the next day. After that day of rest, I’m ready to go back to the gym and use weights again, and I often find that I can either increase the weight or the number of repetitions. The reason is that during the day of rest, the muscle fibers grow stronger which means they’re able to handle more the next time.

Just like my physical muscles, my shema is also a muscle. The more I obey when I hear God, the easier it becomes. I begin to want to do what He calls me to do more than anything. This is so cool to me because the reward is what keeps me pushing forward!

Whether or not you like to work on building stronger muscles, I’m sure there’s something you enjoy doing that you notice yourself getting better at the more you practice.

Maybe you paint, or sculpt, or race road bikes, or compete in triathlons. Perhaps you take joy in speech competitions or building a bigger garden each year.

No matter what it is you pursue, I’m sure you’ve seen this truth in action — the more you do something, the better you get, and the greater the rewards. Whether you begin to sell your crafts, win medals, or reap baskets of produce, you know what I’m talking about. The success you enjoy motivates you to continue in spite of difficulties or setbacks!

Now, think about your shema muscle. If you haven’t exercised it regularly or maybe even in a long while, it’s going to feel difficult and uncomfortable at first. Just like all the examples I shared with you though, the more you use it, the easier it will get, and the closer your relationship with God will become.

The next time you hear what God is telling you to do and you feel the temptation to rationalize or justify why you don’t have to or just plain want to procrastinate, pray and ask God for His help to obey and focus on what awaits you on the other side of obedience — the joy of your Heavenly Father and the satisfaction of knowing you chose to shema — hear and obey — even when it was difficult.

Here’s what I want to encourage you to do. Rather than allowing guilt or shame to try to take control and make you focus on how many times you’ve messed up and chosen disobedience, choose to focus each day on the choices you need to make that day. Ask God for help. Remember, He does not expect us to walk this road of faith on our own. He knows our weaknesses and frailties and He wants to help us. Our job is to say, “Yes, I will be obedient”.

So, how is your shema muscle? Do you need to start developing it? Maybe you need to exercise it more often? No matter where you find yourself, spend time in God’s word doing just that — hearing what He has to say to you and then choosing to be obedient.