Jesus said to each church He addressed in Revelation chapters 2 and 3: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” I find it interesting that each church was not only spoken to individually, but Jesus exhorted them to take heed to what the Spirit was saying to ALL of them.

Hearing what God is saying to us bypasses the physical organ of the ear. We know that is so because to think that anybody who is hearing impaired could never hear what God is saying is absurd! In Scripture, we hear and believe with our heart (Romans 10:10), and when our heart hears what God is saying (Psalm 119:111), we then must determine to apply that truth in our lives. To simply hear and not obey is, according to Jesus, foolish (Luke 6:46-49).

Furthermore, not only is it foolish, it is also dangerous when we get to a place where hearing God’s Word and even “Amen”ing it is mistaken for the actual doing of it (Ezekiel 12:2; Zephaniah 3:2). James exhorts us to respond differently, saints: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who… is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22-25)

May we as a congregation have that spiritual hearing which heeds and obeys the voice of Our Lord Jesus (Proverbs 25:12). May we heed His instruction (Proverbs 23:12), His correction (Proverbs 3:11), and His promises (2 Peter 1:4). When we do that, we will discover true fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) and peace.