Samuel’s Ear

The Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to heed the things spoken by Paul.

Acts 16:14

More than forty men wrote the Bible, all of them using human letters, syllables, and words. In one sense, then, we should read the Bible as we read other books, applying the same reasonable laws of interpretation. The sentences in the Bible are informational and logical, and even children can understand them.

But the Bible was also breathed out by God as its writers were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). Behind the human authors was a divine, master Author, inspiring the words of Scripture and recording them infallibly as inerrant truth. That makes the Bible a one-of-a-kind volume, unequaled by any other book ever written.

Only with the Holy Spirit’s illumination can we really appreciate the Bible’s message for our own lives. We must pray as Samuel did, “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:9, NIV). And we must always cultivate tender, willing, open, receptive hearts toward Jesus, loving His Word, our hearts burning within us as we daily study our Bibles.

O give me Samuel’s ear, the open ear, O Lord, alive and quick to hear each whisper of Thy Word.

JAMES D. BURNS