The Sovereign LORD has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know what to say to all these weary ones. Morning by morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will. The Sovereign LORD has spoken to me, and I have listened. I do not rebel or turn away.  (Isaiah 50:4-5 NLT).

 

Just the other day I heard a wonderful sound. My five-month-old grandson, Logan, said “grandpa.” Of course, my Kyle said it was just “selective hearing” on my part, but I heard it! Okay, maybe he didn’t really say grandpa distinctly. Maybe I did just hear that. He was making a lot of sounds and I suppose I could have just wanted to hear that.

Seriously, we do often hear things selectively. On several occasions, Jesus taught people and when he came to the end of his lesson, he would say something like this: “You have ears to hear; listen up!” OK, I’ve modernized it a bit, but if you will read your Bible, I think you’ll find this is pretty close to what Jesus challenged people to do. It’s one of those things so obvious that it ought to be...well, obvious. We have ears so that we can hear. Use them for their intended purpose.

 
Now, why would anyone have to tell a person to use his or her ears? Sometimes, people are born with non-functioning ears. Sometimes accidents or diseases can create deafness. Even age can make our ears hear less than when we were younger. But, all those possibilities notwithstanding, ears are for hearing. I have often been accused of selective hearing, especially in the last two minutes of a TV show! On the other hand, I’ve been in places when my hearing worked all too well. My children were often amazed how well I could hear a sassy remark. It’s amazing how well ears work when you want them to work, and it’s amazing how poorly they work when you don’t care.

The real question is how well do we listen to God? Do we have ears to listen as a disciple as Isaiah mentioned? What kind of ear does the disciple have anyway? I don’t get the idea that a disciple’s ear works better than anyone else’s ear. But there is one thing that disciples have going for them that others do not. The disciple can’t avoid hearing because God opens his or her ear. He “awakens” the disciple’s ear out of its sleep and makes it ready to hear. Does that mean that God somehow enables the physical organ of the ear to function better or does it mean that God has a way of getting our attention so that we listen up? Personally, I incline toward the latter. Besides, a real disciple is one of those “selective” hearers. When God speaks, the true disciple is ready, willing, able, and interested in hearing and doing what God says.

Jesus understood the truth of selective hearing. Not that it’s something possible to only a few. The truth is that anyone could hear God’s word. But, the fact is, there are people who will simply turn off their ears and quit listening. They don’t really want to know, they don’t like what they hear, and they have no plans to do anything with what God says except to ignore it. Why would they want to listen? On the other hand, the one who wants to learn from God has his or her ears tuned in, ready to hear. How are your ears? More than likely, you’re just as good at this “selective hearing” thing as anyone. The big question is this: “To what and to whom are you listening? If you have ears to hear, then use them– especially when God speaks.