Listen To Learn And Learn To Listen

Scientists tell us that the outside of our ears catch up to 20,000 vibrations a second. If we were placed in a completely sound proof environment, our ears are so finely tuned, that we could hear the blood coursing its way through our veins. And yet, for all the wonders of our God-given ability to hear, we still have great difficulty listening.

As we all know, any healthy relationship is built around good communication. And good communication is the result of our desire to carefully listen to folks speaking to us, especially our spouses.

The marriage relationship greatly suffers when one or both spouses stop listening. The so-called "generation gap" is the result of poor communication. Both sides may talk a lot about their problems, but if neither side truly listens, effective communication has not taken place.

What about our relationship to God in all of this? Does it not thrive on healthy communication? Do we not grow spiritually when we speak to our Heavenly Father in prayer and then carefully listen to His will through the pages of His inspired word? (Revelation 2:11).

As one preacher was heard to say, "It's so hard for us to listen to learn, if we haven't learned to listen."

God recognizes our difficulty in listening, when He encourages us to "be swift to hear" (James 1:19); to "take heed how you hear" (Luke 8:18); and instructs, "He who has an ear to hear, let him hear" (Revelation 2:7).

Once after the Lord reminded His disciples of certain men whose "ears are hard of hearing" (Matthew 13:15).

He commended His disciples by saying: "But blessed are .... your ears, for they hear" (Matthew 13:16). Beloved, let's be among those disciples who Jesus commended!

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets