It’s 9:15 p.m. and my daughter, Carson, is outside dribbling basketball.  This sound signifies the end of another high school soccer season and the beginning of her sophomore year of basketball.  I love the sound of a basketball dribbling followed by the swish of a nylon net.   Some of my earliest memories involve my dad’s great basketball teams, crowded gyms and noisy fans.  There’s nothing like the sounds associated with basketball, and I love to listen to Carson dribble and shoot.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 11:15

What sounds are comforting to you?  Perhaps it’s your favorite musician.  The sounds associated with nature.  The soft whimper of a sleeping child.  All of us have favorite sounds.  It’s easy to listen, but it can be so hard to truly hear.

Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.  John 8:47

It’s hard, isn’t it?  Hearing is so hard.  We often listen for what we want to hear- not what we need to hear.

Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.  Proverbs 19:27

My own human nature is to be selfish.  It’s often difficult for me to turn away from my sinful desires and listen to God’s instruction for my life.

Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future.  Proverbs 19:20

Hearing must become a habit for all of us.  In order for us to have true spiritual growth we must be disciplined in our hearing.  We can’t just listen to the Lord’s instruction.  We need to read His word…meditate on it…and hear the application for our lives.  Hearing must be a habit.

But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”  Luke 8:21

Let’s pray for one another to be more intentional in our hearing.

God bless.