From Max Lucado and his book “Just Like Jesus”:
“Let he who has ears to hear, use them.” More than once Jesus said these words. Eight times in the gospels and eight times in the book of Revelation.1 We are reminded that it is not enough to have ears. It is necessary that we use them.
In one of his parables Jesus compared our ears to soil. He told about a farmer who scattered seed (symbolic of the Word) in four different types of ground (symbolic of our ears). Some of our ears are like hard road—unreceptive to the seed. Others have ears like rocky soil—-we hear the word but don’t allow it to take root. Still others have ears akin to a weed patch—-too overgrown, too thorny with too much competition for the seed to have a chance. And then there are some who have ears to hear: well tilled, discriminate, and ready to hear God’s voice.
Please note, in all of these cases the seed is the same seed. The sower is the same sower. What’s different is not the message or the messenger—it’s the listener. And if the ratio is significant, three fourths of the world is not listening to God’s voice. Indeed, the great command through Moses began with the words, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord”(Deut 6:4 KJV). Nehemiah and his men were commended because they were attentive unto the book of the Law (Neh. 8:3 KJV). “Happy are those who listen to me” is the promise of Proverbs 8:34. Jesus urges us to listen like sheep. “The sheep recognize his voice. . .they follow because they are familiar with the shepherd’s voice. They won’t follow a strangers voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.(John 10:3-5 msg) Each of the seven churches in revelation are addressed in the same manner: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”3
Our ears, unlike our eyes, do not have lids. They are to remain open, but how easily they close. Denalyn and I were shopping for luggage sometime back. We found what we wanted in one store and told the salesclerk we were going to another store to compare prices. He asked me if I wanted to take his business card. I told him, “No, your name is easy to remember, Bob.” To which he replied, “My name is Joe.” I heard the man but I hadn’t listened.
Pilate didn’t listen either. He had the classic case of ears that didn’t hear. Not only did his wife warn him, “Don’t do anything to that man, because he’s innocent” (Matt. 27:19), but the very Word of Life stood before Pilate in his chamber and proclaimed, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to me (John 18:37). But Pilate had selective hearing. He allowed the voices of the people to dominate the voices of conscience and the carpenter. “Their voices prevailed” (Luke 23:23 rsv).
In the end Pilate inclined his ear to the crowd and away from Christ and ignored the message of the Messiah. “Faith comes from hearing” (Romans 10:17), and since Pilate didn’t hear, he never found faith.
“Let he who has ears to hear, use them.” How long has it been since you had your hearing checked? When God throws seed your way, what is the result? ~~~Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus (World Publishing, Dallas ,Texas 1987,1988, 1999) p. 41-43
