July 7th, 20

JULY 7th,  How is Your Hearing?  Learn to Savor the Word.

Today’s readings are Hosea 13-14, Psalm 100,102, and Hebrews 5.  We are reading from the New Living Translation.

How’s your hearing?  Are you dull of hearing.?  Have your decisions lacked discernment and resulted in some form of destruction?  Do you seem stuck, unable to move beyond where you are – still making the same mistakes over and over again?  Maybe there’s something wrong with your hearing.  Maybe you’ve become spiritually dull.  That’s what the writer of Hebrews seems to be concerned about, here in verse 11.  

There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.

There’s so much more he wants to tell them about the life they have in Christ, but they’ve become spiritually dull, unable to listen.  There’s something wrong with their hearing.  And the same can be true of us. But there’s good news.  There’s a remedy for this hearing problem, and it has to do with milk and meat.  Babies love milk. Milk is good! Peter tells us,

Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (I Pt 2:2 NLT).

We’re supposed to cry out for its nourishment, and desire the Word of God.  The problem is not with the ‘milk’.  The problem is with desire, or the lack of it.  We can lose our desire and that has a profound impact on our ability to hear and make good decisions.  It leads to dullness of hearing. But the good news is that you can get your desire back.  You can come to the Word of God and savor it. Cry out for it.  See the grace, love, and mercy that is offered in this milk, each day.   That’s going to improve your hearing.

It is the savoring and desiring of that spiritual milk, over time, that leads to the desire for meat.  And meat leads to discernment and maturity.  Maturity is not found in managing sin better or keeping up better with our piety check list.  Maturity is marked by a desire for God.  It is a dynamic relationship of dependence and joy where we are able to hear and respond to God in the moment.  Our character is shaped by God, so that, in the moment, we have his wisdom and discernment, in whatever circumstance or situation we might be facing. That’s a ‘meaty’ life.  That’s real christian character.  It is a life that is becoming fully alive in Christ, a life that hears God well.  

Jesus says,  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (Jn 10:27 ESV)

The way we improve our hearing is by coming to his Word each day and savoring that Word.  The savored Word, over time, develops desire. And that leads to an appetite for meat.  And that diet of meat results in righteous wise living – a moment by moment, dynamic interaction and fellowship with God.  

Savor the Word.  As your desire for his Word grows, the meat of the Word will bring about growth in your character, and a new maturity in your relationship with God.

You are loved!