Big Ears Are BeautifulSample
Three ways God speaks
God desires to speak to us in primarily three ways: through His Word, His Spirit, and His people. Believing in it matters. If you don’t believe He wants to speak to you, you won’t be quick to tune your ears to heaven. God wants to speak to us, more than you or I want to listen. Our desire to hear Him pales in comparison to His desire to speak to us. The efforts He has already made to be heard far outweigh the half hearted efforts we make to listen. We pray while we drive, listening to the radio and changing lanes (we’re multitaskers), but He’s focused.
Through His Word
The Bible that bears His words to us is painted in martyrs’ blood, protected by vast study and proven by transformed lives. His book is the primary mode of hearing available to us, and those who know God’s Word the best, hear God’s voice the most. Hear that one more time, as it is tremendously important: Those who know God’s Word the best, hear God’s voice the most.
With all its mystery and difficult passages, the Bible is the mouthpiece of God, with a direct line to our hearts. He speaks through His Word. His Spirit wields its thin pages as a sword, determining our motives and our mindset. Sometimes a verse or two will literally pop off the page to me, like the unfolding shapes of a children’s pop up book. Countless times I have read a Bible passage and thought, Has this always been here? This happens because the Bible is unlike any other book. It is “living and active”. It shows me the depths of God’s love and truth from history past to eternity future.
The more that God’s Word gets into us, the more we will desire to get into the movement of God. How goes your time in God’s Word? Is it good? Then don’t become self-satisfied and let pride seep into your heart. Not so good? Then change that today.
We all want to know God’s desires for us, and the Bible offers us the clearest way to do so. I must warn you, though: His book is habit forming. As one unknown writer has stated, “Regular use can cause loss of anxiety, decreased appetite for lying, cheating, stealing and hating. Side effects can include increased sensations of love, joy, peace and compassion.”2
Notes
1. “Longest Ears on a Rabbit,” Nipper’s Geronimo, Guinness World Records, November 1, 2003. http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/longest-ears-on-a-rabbit
2. Cited in P. L. Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, 1996).
You can get Gregg Matte’s book by clicking on Finding God's Will.
Scripture
About this Plan
Rabbits are widely known for big ears, but Nipper’s Geronimo has the longest.[1] We aren’t after increasing the size of our physical ears, but we desire an increase in the hearing of our spiritual ones. The Lord is speaking to us all the time, but are we listening? Do we recognize His guiding voice and understand how He speaks? Big ears to the voice of God are a beautiful thing.
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