A LISTENING EAR I

Isaiah, a prophet, says a very comforting thing (at least most of the time it’s comforting), “The Lord has given me a disciple’s tongue, for me to know how to give a word of comfort to the weary. Morning by morning he makes my ear alert to listen like a disciple. The Lord God has opened my ears” (Isaiah 50:4-5). Every morning we ask for a disciple’s ear and tongue… what to hear and what to speak. We ask for an ear to hear what the Father will speak and teach us in each new day. The Lord opens our ears. Job says that while we sleep, “In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on us, while we slumber in our beds, then He opens our ears and seals our instructions” (Job 33:15-16).

The word of God is more than an articulation of a thought or feeling. It is alive! The Hebrew word (bara) used for God means to both speak and create. God speaks life and creates. His word is spirit, that is, life giving, as the scripture says, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, by the breath of His mouth all the hosts were made” (Psalm 33:6). There are spoken words of truth and written words of truth. Like Daniel said, “I will tell you what is inscribed in the words of truth’”(10:21). Our charge is to listen.

“As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.” Jesus