The Art of Listening

Listening to them…Luke 2:46

In his misery, Job thought it a miracle God would listen to him: For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him. I would beg for mercy of my Judge. If I called and He answered me, I would not believe that He was listening to my voice. Job 9:15-16. But here was young Jesus sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions, Luke 2:26. For the Lord had opened His ear, Isaiah 50:5.

It is through hearing we gain understanding. Psalm 119:130: the entrance of Your words gives light. It gives understanding to the simple. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers, Luke 2:47. For the two on the road to Emmaus: He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures, Luke 24:25

Oh, that the Lord would open our ears. That we should both hear and understand His words. And not only God’s words, but the words of our friends and family. That the Lord would open their ears that they should hear and understand God’s word, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. For faith comes by hearing and understanding comes through the voice of God in the heart and mind of those seeking mercy.

At the end of His parable of the sower, Jesus said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear, Matthew 13:9. And again after the parable of the wheat and tares. Both parables have a sense of urgency. When you sow the seed of God’s word, you have no power over the condition of the soil, the human heart. Therefore, the responsibility of hearing falls upon those listening. Likewise, you have no say in who receives the word (the wheat) and those who reject the word (the tares). Therefore, we pray for understanding. Not only for them, but for ourselves.As people close their ears to hearing the gospel, we can stop listening to them. As they reject the gospel, we can reject them. We assume they are tares, so why bother. Not our call. We still show God’s love. Their response is their responsibility, not ours