Can You Hear Me Now?

Several years ago, there was an ad campaign with the catch-phrase, "Can you hear me now?" It is quite something how God created us to be able to hear the sounds around us. With my ears I can hear the sounds of the music coming through the speakers praising our Great God! With my ears I can hear the sounds of birds singing, squirrels squeaking and dogs barking. With my ears I can hear the sound of finely tuned engine revving its engine. With my ears I can hear the cry of a newborn baby, and wonder at the miracle of new birth. With my ears I can hear my children ask me questions and tell me what is in their hearts. With my ears I can hear the concern in my wife's voice as she tells me about a problem she's facing. With my ears I can hear the sermon from my favorite pastor encouraging me to keep going and fight the good fight.

Ears are pretty amazing things. God has created us to hear. But He's also created us to listen. And those two things are not the same. I can hear my wife speaking, and still not be listening to her. I can hear my kids trying to get my attention, but I don't always listen to them. And that's a problem.

Proverbs 10:19 tells us that "when words are many, transgression (or sin) is not lacking." This simply means that when we use too many words, there is no lack of sin. But when we stop talking and listen...really listen...then we stop a lot of our sins before they have a chance to sprout.

This Sunday we will be talking about the importance of listening. We will be talking about the importance of not speaking too much. And we will be talking about the importance of keeping a lid on our tempers. God wants us to live lives that are worthy of Him and that show great promise when it comes to holiness. And so, we see that when someone asks the question, "Can you hear me now?" what they may really be saying is, "Are you really listening to me?"

And if we are going to live the holy life that God wants us to, the answer had better be "yes!"

Please feel free to comment as we would love to hear your take on this. And we'll see you Sunday!