Hear
Hear – Perceive – Comprehend
How well do we hear? Are we listening only for the things we are comfortable with?
When our children were told to do something, sometimes they did not do it, oh, they said that they did not hear; but mention candy or ice cream and it seemed that their hearing was much better. It seems that sometimes we listen only to what we want to hear. Is this true in our religious circles? Do we only listen to what we want to hear?
Hearing, perceiving, and comprehending are essential to God’s plan for mankind. Notice the words of God in Jeremiah 6:10. “To whom shall I speak and give warning. That they may hear? Indeed, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot give heed. Behold, the word of the LORD is a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.” It is not that they could not hear, they just had the disease of “selective hearing.”
Are You Hard of Hearing?
Jesus refers to Isaiah 6:9-10 when He said, “Their ears are hard of hearing.” In Matthew 13:13-15 Jesus said these words in reference to why He spoke to them in parables. In Matthew 13:16-17 He said, “Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.” Hence, notice to whom the blessings are promised, to those who hear and see.
Listen Carefully – Be a Doer of the Word
Therefore, the blessings of God are promised to those who have ears that can listen and understand. However, simply hearing is insufficient. James explains, in James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” In James 1:25 James states that it is the doer of the work who is blessed. A forgetful hearer will not be blessed.
Has this World Gone Deaf to God?
Stephen preached Christ to the Jewish leaders in Acts 6-7. Acts 7:57 says that those Jewish leaders “stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord…” They did not want to listen to what Stephen was preaching and it was to their condemnation.
The world has “turned off their hearing aids” when it comes to hearing and doing what God has commanded. This is true with God’s plan of salvation and it is true with Christians as far as it goes to evangelism, and by being faithful in His worship. It just seems that we hear only what we want to hear and we do just what we want to do. Is this true of us?
It is a shame, and grieves the heart of God greatly when Christians have “selective hearing” concerning His word.
Here is a riddle: By Evert Hayes.
IT’S THE BEGINNING OF ETERNITY, THE END OF TIME AND SPACE
THE BEGINNING OF EVERY END, AND THE END OF EVERY PLACE.What do you think it is?
In Christian love,
Bill Arnold, Minister
Ridgeway Church of Christ
Harrison, Arkansas
