For this people’s
heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears, and they
have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might
see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts and turn, and
I would heal them.”
Matthew 13:15
What groupings of
people were ‘around’ Jesus when he walked on the earth?
The 12 disciples
His other followers,
His friends and His family
The crowds
His enemies
So we might say there
were roughly four different ‘groups’ of people around Jesus.
How many of these
people had ears?
I know, it sounds
like a silly question but hear me out (no pun intended!)
I’m quite serious
about this - how many had ears?
Well, of course all
of them did.
Why then, do you
suppose, in three of the four Gospels and in the Book of Revelation these often
repeated words of Jesus are recorded:
“He who has ears let
him hear what the spirit is saying.”
Obviously Jesus was
speaking of hearing with spiritual ears – in other words – understanding what
we are hearing, reading and seeing from God.
Is it possible to
have ‘ears’ and yet not hear?
Sure it is!
Deaf people have ears
that do not function.
Likewise, there are
born-again believers, filled with the Spirit of God,
whose hearing has
become dull.
You mean to tell me
our hearing can be made dull.
Yes, it can.
How?
Dull means – slow in
perception or sensibility; i.e. hearing but not really perceiving or perhaps we
could say – seeing but not really perceiving.
So what dulls my
understanding?
According to what we read
above - A calloused heart.
A hardened heart.
A heart no longer
tender or soft to the things of God.
The Greek words for
dull or calloused in these verses speak of something thick, heavy or hard. As
if our ears were so thick with hard wax that we could not hear or our heart had
so often refused to listen or obey that it become calloused and hard.
Believers can go
through their journey with God here on earth and never know the keen spiritual
eyesight God wants you to have or the sharp hearing that is always tuned to
hear His voice.
And that can happen
to you even with the Spirit of God,
given without
measure, living inside of you!
Lord:
Help me to remain
tender and obedient to your commands.
Hearing and
understanding your voice!
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