Having Ears

And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.  Mark 4:9 (KJV)

Isn´t this an interesting expression?  Our Savior liked to use it?  Should we try to imagine our Lord referring to people who possess a physical ear as opposed to the ones who have lost theirs in an accident or were born without them?  If we agree that Jesus was pointing to the fact that some would want to understand and listen to His words, then just who are those demonstrating that they do have ears?  Are you and I proving our ability to hear our Savior´s voice?

Unfortunately the question grows as we investigate it.  It may seem harmless in print, but we start poking around in these embers and somebody might get burnt.  Doubtlessly there were Pharisees who heard Jesus´ parables and for sure they had ears on their heads or they would not have sat through any of our Lord´s lessons.  They were experts in reading and understanding words.  Do we think that Jesus was talking about them when He said, “Let them hear?”

On a completely different spectrum and level, the words of the Lord are like burning embers of fire.  They are capable of burning into our heart and setting our souls alight.  It has been the testimony of so many of those who walked close to our Lord that His words were like flames of fire inside of them.  Those words always cut in deeper than our shallow understandings.  They are like bottomless pits of most precious instruction.  They have the power to attack any malicious virus which would threaten our spiritual health.  The sweet words of Jesus may at times be bitter to the taste and hard to swallow, but they always serve to close the gap between our heart and that of our God.  They can break a stubborn will and show it the need to bow before the Almighty.

On one hand we have people who have become super-informed and extremely well versed.  They can split the fine hairs of philosophy and theology.  But are they the ones who hear the words of God?  More importantly, are we hearing the words of Jesus?  Does the voice of Jesus float softly through and pierce the turmoil and noise of our day?  Do you and I recognize when we hear His whisper and sense the burning of those words inside?  Does those words, direct us in the thousands of small decisions which we face each day?  Are we moved by what we hear Him saying to the point where it affects the way we see everything else?

The words of our Lord should be the oxygen we breathe and what flows through our soul as we weigh every thought and action.  The burning of every word spoken by our Lord in the quiet of our hearts should be the power that draws us closer to Him in every instant and purifies our every intention.

“Those who have ears let them hear!”

Do we have ears?  Are we hearing?

Dear Jesus, so much of what You tried to show us about the differences between our world and Yours is lost to us.  We have no way outside of You to understand or see the things that are not visible to our eyes.  Yet for those who believe in You, we have been given a set of ears.  Please show us how to open them and to use them to hear Your instruction.  Let us become so accustomed to hearing Your sweet voice that we need to hear it to sustain us.  May Your voice, Your communicating to us be our very life-blood which is necessary to keep our hearts beating.  And may You be referring to us when You say; “Those who have ears.”

Amen