Do you hear what I hear?

​Having small children seems like an exercise in both repetition and futility. Mostly a repetition in futility as I once again ask them to complete the instruction I just gave. But like little goldfish, they swim away managing to both ignore the instruction and make more mess in the process.

Now I will admit I also at times have selective hearing. For example, when Marnel reminds me to complete the task I was doing rather than keep watching the cricket, all my brain hears is, “… keep watching the cricket”.
 
And when my kids ask me to fulfill a promise that past Josh foolishly signed present Josh up for, I somehow develop selective memory as well. I digress.
 
When it comes to our faith, for those that follow Jesus, we can also get selective hearing as well, but it impacts us more because of how we choose to selectively hear. Let me share part of what Jesus said to both his disciples long ago and to us today.
 
In Matthew 11, the author records an interaction that Jesus has with a crowd after he talks to the disciples of John the Baptist. Long story short, John the Baptist was Jesus’ cousin and had preached that one-day Jesus would come. John gets thrown in jail and the disciples of John bring a message asking Jesus if he was the one God had promised because from John’s prison cell- he was starting to ask some questions. Jesus tells Johns disciples that he is who God has sent and to report back to John all the good that is happening.
 
After that conversation Jesus turns to the crowd and says that John was a prophet who cared more about telling people about God than keeping the status quo happy. Jesus praises John that even in his circumstance he is special in the eyes of God because of what he has done.
 
Then Jesus drops the line:
 
“Whoever has ears, let them hear” -Jesus.
 
Chris Blake, a Seventh Day Adventist author, says, “When Jesus says, as He often does, ‘He who has ears, let him hear’, He means hear what you should… The question is not, What do I agree with? The question is, What do I need to hear?”
 
This is why Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, record Jesus as teaching that you must work hard to bring a good return for your work, and don’t work so hard because you can miss being present with Jesus. Ensure that you give away all that you have, but don’t start a project unless you have the resources to complete it.
 
It is why we have Jesus telling the rich man that he must give all his wealth away and commit his life to following Jesus, but he allows the thief on the cross to get into heaven with 1-second on the clock.
 
And this is where the trouble is for us. If we are not careful, we can have selective hearing and instead of following Jesus’ intent – hear what you need to hear, we can end up choosing to hear what we agree with.
 
Or worse, we end up disregarding what God is saying to us because we are distracted by others ignoring what we think God should be saying to them.
 
So why not take a chance to get a hearing check and when you come across information that is not for you, let it go. And when you hear, read, or interact with information that helps you become who God is shaping you to be then listen closely.

Author

Josh has been on staff at Lesmurdie Baptist Church since 2018. He is married to Marnel and they have 4 children together - Azaliah, Ezra, Zoelle, and Zion. What drives Josh is seeing people put their faith into action so Jesus can change lives in the here and now.