“Listen for God’s voice in everything you do and everywhere you go. He’s the one who will keep you on track.” Proverbs 3:6 (MSG)

In Luke 8:8, Jesus told a crowd who was gathered around him, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear” (NIV). He had something to say—and it was important for them to listen.

The same is true for you. God wants to talk to you—and you need to take time to hear him.

When you hear from God, it proves that you’re in his family. If you don’t have any communication with God, then you don’t have a relationship with him, you just know about him; you don’t really know him. But when you communicate with God—talking to and listening to each other—that proves you have a relationship.

Hearing from God protects you from mistakes, too. When you start listening to God, you find that he warns you about potholes, traps, and bends in the road. You save yourself a lot of time, energy, frustration, and failure when you listen to God and do things his way.

The Message paraphrase of the Bible says, “Listen for God’s voice in everything you do and everywhere you go. He’s the one who will keep you on track” (Proverbs 3:6). I can’t count the number of times that God has spared me from a failure or mistake or major embarrassment. Sometimes he just says one or two words to me—“Don’t,” or “No,” or “Watch out.” That’s all he needs to say.

And hearing from God also produces success in life. I’m not talking about the way the world defines success—by wealth or popularity or prestige. That’s not success. Instead, success is being exactly who God made you to be. Success is what results from living in the center of God’s will.

In Psalm 32, God promises, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8 NLT). Notice that God promises to lead you on the best path for your life. What he’s planned for you is different from what he’s planned for everybody else—because he knows that what’s best for someone else isn’t necessarily best for you.

Jesus said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27 NLT). Take time to listen to your Good Shepherd today.