My two youngest grandbabies are close in age. Born a few months apart, they are both somewhere midway between the age of one and two. They are discovering more about themselves and learning to communicate. They are both learning the names of their body parts and it’s a fun game to play with them. Willow, who is actually my great granddaughter, is quite exuberant about it. She grins with glee and points triumphantly when asked “Where’s your nose?” or “Where’s your mouth?” But she’s really cute when asked about her ears. She takes both hands and tugs them out for you to see!

My grandson knows this game, too. Johnny doesn’t live near me, but I get to enjoy seeing his progress and talking to him through video chats. Recently, during one of our chats, I asked him “Where’s your nose?” He pointed to his nose and said, “nose”. So I asked, “Where’s your chin?” He appropriately touched his chin and replied, “chin”. Then I asked, ” Do you have ears?” And he startled me by saying, “No.” I chuckled, because it was cute and unexpected and funny. But it also caused me to think of another, somewhat similar and more serious question. That is, do you have ears to hear?

Little boys often had their own thoughts and while pursuing them did not always hear what you said. Many people of all ages were hard of hearing in all kinds of ways. –from the novel Kingdom Come by Daphne Simpkins

The above quote reminds us that it isn’t just the ‘hard of hearing’ who are hard of hearing. I mentioned this in my previous blog post, I Hear You! In that post I wrote, “But it isn’t just those who suffer from hearing loss that do not hear. There are other reasons that people fail to listen. It has to do with focus. When a person is focused on themselves it affects their ability to hear.” Distractions, such as television and cell phones, also affect focus and can keep people from hearing. But sometimes the reason people do not hear is simply because they don’t want to!

The expression “Talk to the hand!” accompanied with a raised hand in front of the face blatantly makes this clear. The unspoken and implied part of that statement is “cause this face ain’t listening.” It means you might as well talk to my hand, because I don’t want to hear what you’re saying! Sometimes people will cover their ears and make a lot of noise with their mouth as a way of refusing to hear. One Sunday morning I noticed a lady in the congregation sitting with her hands pressed over her ears. When I asked her about it after the service, she told me she didn’t want to hear what the preacher was saying. We may not literally cover our ears, but many times we do close our ears to what we do not want to hear.

Usually if someone refuses to listen, it is because they don’t want to hear another viewpoint or be given advice or receive any instruction. But quite often it also means they don’t want to hear the truth. This is especially true in spiritual matters.

Thomas Jefferson made his own Bible. He cut up his Bible, eliminated the portions he didn’t like or didn’t want to believe, and pasted the remaining verses into another book. This cut up version of the Word of God (It’s only the New Testament.) has actually been published and is available for purchase! This is a prime example of refusing to hear God’s truth.

It isn’t always easy to hear God’s voice. We can get it all mixed up. But sometimes the problem is our unwillingness to hear what He has to say. Sadly, many of us do not have ears to hear from God. From the very beginning, God longed for the people He created to hear Him. As much as we want God to hear us, He also wants us to hear Him!

From the Old Testament prophets to the last book of the Bible, God implores His people to hear Him. The book of Jeremiah is filled with pleas from God for them to hear Him, and over and over again the response is: “but they would not listen”. Jeremiah calls them “foolish people… who have ears and hear not”. One of the saddest verses in the Bible is Isaiah 28:12. “God has told His people, ‘Here is a place of rest; let the weary rest here. This is a place of quiet rest.’ But they would not listen.” (NLT) I wonder what blessings we miss, because we refuse to hear.

Do you have ears to hear? In the book of Revelation there are several verses that repeat the exhortation: “He that has ears, let him hear…” The New Living Translation words it this way: “Anyone with ears to hear must listen..” We all have ears. The question is: are we willing to hear God?

Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear… –Isaiah 42:23

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