In a startling statement one day Jesus spoke of certain people whom He said, “..while hearing they do not hear” (Matt. 13:13). It’s a paradox to say the least. To hear but not to hear – there’s the rub.

I've been guilty of it, I'm sorry to say. Somebody said something to me and I said, “Uh huh.” Then a few minutes later reality sinks in and I say to myself, “What did I just say ‘Uh huh” too? I heard but I didn’t hear. The truth is that this aspect of human life may be the most important destructive factor in the breakdown of communication between people.

In Matthew 11:15 (in just one of several places) Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Why would He say this? Could it be because having ears doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is really hearing what is being said.

In Matthew 15:10, at a critical point in a teaching He was giving, Jesus said to the Pharisees and Scribes who were the audience, “Hear, and understand.” I think Jesus knew these people were going to hear the words but that they were not really going to hear what the words were saying. They had ears but they had a most difficult time hearing.

I would suggest that many of us, in some way or another, needs to work on our spiritual hearing -- learning to hear until what we are hearing seeps into the very fiber of our souls and becomes a part of our life experience.

God is saying to His people today, “Hear My Word. By that He doesn’t simply mean “check it out. Peruse it. Glance at it.” He means hear it until it becomes a part of our lives. Hear it out (examine it, scrutinize it, study it, analyze it). Hear it through. Hear it until we know it. Hear it until its ours and we can act upon it.