"How Big Are Your Ears?"

 

“How Big Are Your Ears?”

 

During spring training in the early years of the New York Mets when the legendary Casey Stengel was the manager a player made a dumb play (something that happened with considerable frequency in those days) which prompted an unprintable response from a teammate. In describing the incident a sportswriter commented, “Casey has big ears, the better to hear you with!” (Apparently he was familiar with the children’s story “Little Red Riding Hood”.) Stengel then took steps to correct this mistake but it was soon replaced by many others as evidenced by the Mets’ woeful record in their first few seasons.

By God’s grace my hearing is still pretty good, especially considering my ever advancing age. But to my shame I’m prone not to use my ears as well as I should when listening to God’s voice (or Karen’s for that matter). In Scripture the phrase “He who has an ear/ears to hear, let him hear.” appears some 14 times; “Hear the word of the Lord” (with some variations) more than 20 times; and “Listen” 352 times. And let’s not overlook the words of Jesus’ brother: “Everyone should be quick to listen….” (James 1:19, emphasis added) or Solomon (“{The one} who answers before listening—that is {one’s} folly and {one’s} shame.”—Proverbs 18:13). Am I getting the message?

The psalmist writes, “I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying….” but then adds, “Let (His people) not return to their foolish ways.” (Psalm 85:8, NLT). So listening is only the first step—we must act on God’s words with obedience (“Do not merely listen to the word…Do what it says.”—James 1:22, emphasis added). Obeying can be difficult—remember God’s commands are contrary to our human nature and that’s why He has to repeat them—but let’s never forget, “The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.” (Psalm 19:9).

How big are my ears when it comes to hearing and doing what God says? Will I respond, “…Do not let me stray from your commands.” (Psalm 119:10)?

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan