Open Ears

Read 1 Samuel 3:1-10

“We had a new girl in Sunday school today,” announced Yvette one Sunday noon. “Her name is Jasmine, and she’s deaf. She has to read lips. She knows sign language, too.”

Mom nodded. “I met her mother,” she said. “The family moved here so Jasmine can go to the special class for the deaf in your school.” Mom set a casserole on the table. “I read recently that 4 million people in our country are completely deaf,” she added. “And even more than that can’t hear as well as they should.”

“How terrible!” Yvette exclaimed. “I think deafness must be the worst thing in the world. I’m glad I’m not deaf.”

“Oh, now, I can think of a lot of things that would be much worse than being deaf, but I do agree that we should all be thankful for two good ears,” said Dad. After a moment he added, “Sadly enough, some of us who have two good ears are deaf in another way—we’re spiritually deaf.”

“Spiritually deaf? What does that mean?” asked Yvette.

“Some people don’t listen to God,” explained Dad. “I’m afraid there are more people in our country who are spiritually deaf than there are people with physical hearing problems. Even Christians often don’t hear God as well as they should. After they accept his gift of salvation, they neglect Bible study and prayer life. They quit listening—they don’t keep their spiritual ears open.”

Mom nodded. “Let’s all be especially aware of that in this coming year,” she said. “Let’s not become hard of hearing when there’s something God wants to tell us.”

How about you?

Are you hard of hearing—spiritually, that is? Be sure to read your Bible and pray every day. As you saw in today’s Scripture, the boy, Samuel, was ready to listen to the Lord; all of us should be, too. If you ask the Lord, he’ll help you never to turn a deaf ear to him.

Memorize:

“I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying.” Psalm 85:8