According to the World Health Organization, more than a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss because of personal audio devices and damaging levels of sound at some entertainment venues, where noise levels can top 120 decibels for hours on end! Doctors warn that a steady onslaught of loud noise, particularly through earbuds, is damaging the hearing ability of a generation.
Physical hearing loss is a serious problem, but spiritual deafness can be devastating. Can you imagine speaking God’s Word to people who intentionally plugged their ears to your message? That’s exactly what the prophet Jeremiah experienced.
Jeremiah’s calling as God’s mouthpiece required him to warn his own people. He warned Judah of its spiritual deafness and that its subsequent rebellion against God would lead to His discipline (Jeremiah 6:1,6). But they, and every segment of society, refused to listen. They willfully plugged their ears and blatantly didn’t take God’s correction seriously. The people were so far from Him that His messages and warnings had become offensive to them. Jeremiah wondered, “To whom can I give warning? Who will listen when I speak? Their ears are closed, and they cannot hear. They scorn the word of the Lord. They don’t want to listen at all” (Jeremiah 6:10).
Going against God’s ways brings spiritual hearing loss. Only through repentance—surrendering our pride and power before God—and trusting in Jesus, will our ability to hear Him be restored (Isaiah 35:5; Luke 7:22). Because spiritual hearing is a “gift” from God (Proverbs 20:12), let’s ask Him to give us ears to hear so that we can faithfully respond to His Word.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: 2 Timothy 3:1-17
More:
Read Romans 10:17 and see why it’s so important for us to hear God’s Word.
Next:
How are you plugging your ears to God’s wisdom or correction? What do you need to repent of so you can truly hear Him again?
Gary Shultz on December 14, 2016 at 5:48 am
Hi Marvin: As you know, a read through Jeremiah certainly feels like a shoe that fits today. It is easy to find people who shun the word and try to push it out of their lives, probably many within the family. As then God gives a choice, as then choice determines an outcome. People will grasp at any form of explanation to life, other than God, no matter how ridiculous it’s framing. People just don’t like God poking into their lives, we want to be free to sin the way we want. We don’t want to hear about consequences. God has His stomach full of our wishful rebellion. We who have been responsive to God’s call of love, need to shine into a world that won’t hear, possibly some will see that there is freedom in making a choice to listen to God. It is easier then ever to be seen as a believer in today’s world. That’s God’s breath to man, to save a world who will not listen to God. He gave a gift that will still shine even though none want to listen so that some may be saved. Oh, that some may listen and be turned by the Spirit of this season. Thanks Marvin, hear the bells.
hsnpoor on December 14, 2016 at 11:50 am
As I read this devotion, Gary, I must have been channeling you because my main thought was we don’t have to go back to the days of Jeremiah to find the people Marvin describes; they are everywhere around us in every aspect of our society. What captured my attention is your phrase “free to sin the way we want” because, in addition to being deaf, people are also blind to the reality that sin brings enslavement, not freedom. As Christians, we tend to think of that enslavement as spiritual. But, God punished the people in Jeremiah’s day with physical captivity in Babylon, which makes me wonder what He has in mind for our nation, if we refuse to turn from our wicked ways….
sandy229 on December 14, 2016 at 1:06 pm
That is something to think about Kim, I can’t even imagine a world without Jesus.
gagirllive on December 14, 2016 at 6:58 am
Amen, Marvin. How timeless is the word of God! I get a shiver sometimes when I read the Old Testament prophets, as their warnings to the nation Israel run parallel to our own. It’s quite sobering to see that the same risks surround physical and spiritual hearing loss— reduced alertness and increased danger to personal safety. Alarms are going off all around us while people are plugging their ears and foolishly proclaiming, “peace and safety” as they march on toward peril. I am praying for a spiritual awakening as well as a spiritual revival in our country. And as the song goes, “let it begin with me” by seeking God’s face every day and waiting before Him in His word because He certainly is speaking—to all who have ears to hear. Thanks for this timely warning and encouragement, Marvin. A very Merry Christmas to you and your family! “Let every heart prepare Him room.”
sandy229 on December 14, 2016 at 11:19 am
Amen GAgirl, we seriously need a spiritual awakening and spiritual revival in our country. “Let it begin with me”, from “Let there be peace on earth”, was sung by the choir in the church, In Touch, Dr. Charles Stanley on Sunday. I have always loved that song!! We do need peace on earth so “let it begin with me”. If everyone has that attitude, then Peace is possible.
carlpozyck on December 14, 2016 at 7:19 am
It is interesting to read this, because this is the growing condition of the Church. She refuses to listen to the call to abandon the pagan traditions that she has created in a false system of worship, and return to the Torah (the Law) as her standard of holiness. Now, she considers those who call her to repentance heretics and cultists, not realizing that she will eventually be disciplined like never before in the history of humanity. That is the purpose of The Great Tribulation, and many will be caught unaware and not paying attention. May the LORD open her ears through His Holy Spirit, and answer His call of repentance so that she can see Yeshua (Jesus) as He truly is.
hsnpoor on December 14, 2016 at 12:02 pm
I don’t think so, carlpozyck. The Law never has, is not now and never will save anyone because that was not & is not it’s purpose. It’s purpose was to help us understand that it codified God’s standard of righteousness and how utterly helpless we, in our fallen state, are able to rise to it, forget about keeping it. Enter Jesus, The CHRIST, The MESSIAH, who is the embodiment and fulfillment of the Law, on our behalf. Under the New Covenant, the promise is that if we believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, we shall be saved. Because it is with our hearts that we believe unto righteousness and with our mouths that we confess unto salvation. EVERYONE (not some, not a few, not many, but EVERYONE) who calls on the Name of the Lord, shall be saved! JESUS, not the Law, SAVES! Praise his holy name!
sandy229 on December 14, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Amen!!
sandy229 on December 14, 2016 at 11:13 am
The peace expressed by the false prophets was absence of war or calamity; a concept far removed from the OT shalom, which emphasizes wholeness or soundness. True peace involves complete fellowship with God and right relations with others. It has more to do with character and attitude than outward circumstances.
Shalom
rick sonnier on December 15, 2016 at 12:26 am
Thank you Marvin. L
rick sonnier on December 15, 2016 at 12:27 am
Thank you Marvin.