What does the above
picture initially look like to you? Does
it resemble a piece of jewelry, or maybe a free hand drawing of some exotic
design?
Here’s another
question: What is
the ‘heart of hearts’? You’ve no doubt heard this expression, e.g., being
not sure of something in your ‘heart of hearts.’ It typically refers to the
seat of a person’s feelings’ or depths of conscience or emotions’.
Ok, enough
questions. Please share your view. Here’s my take:
The HEART of HEART is … your EAR
Here’s why. First,
the English word, ear, is in the middle of the English word heart. Simple,
right? ;o)
The second reason
is more profound, interesting, and Biblically-based. God is profoundly
concerned with our hearing – our spiritual hearing or hearing within our heart.
By my count, there are no less than 23 Scripture verses that reference
some version of the expression, ‘ears to
hear or do not/cannot hear’. A similar, oft used expression is, ‘eyes to
see or do not/cannot see’. So it is clear we have at least two sets of ‘spiritual organs’ – eyes and ears of
our heart.
Knowing how
profoundly He is concerned with our spiritual hearing, and knowing we humans
would adopt the shape of a heart to
indicate/refer to our spirit, in His wisdom, God gave us a pair of ears that
curiously, when viewed side-by-side, resemble
the shape of a heart! Imagine that. Moreover, with a bit of imagination,
you might even perceive the rough outline of a face in the above picture.
My earlier New Year’s
greeting to you was “Happy New ears”. (Not a typo, as it may seem.) Happy New
ears! As I pondered this concept during the year, it became clearer why such an
emphasis is placed on our spiritual ears. This is, by far, the primary faculty by which Jesus
communicates with His born again believers, and He expects us to develop a keen
ability to ‘hear’ His voice at this level. Of course, He uses a variety of
‘means’ to communicate, namely His Word (The Bible), exposition, teachings,
visions, etc., but all of His communication ‘means’ must boil down to, and
depend upon what/how we ‘hear’ spiritually.
Moreover, He
backs-up His expectation by applying the principles of faith to our ability to
hear. For example, check out in John 10 the number of times Jesus released
faith-filled words that express His inner vision for all future born again
believers: “My sheep know, hear
and follow My voice.” He knew our ability to obey is inextricably
connected to our ability, first, to hear; hence the iterated focus across the
pages of The Bible on spiritual hearing.
Consider this: The psalmists expressed an inordinate
concern about their voices (prayers, cries, distress calls, etc.) being heard
on High. Check out the number of times they referred to various versions of ‘my
voice’. Jesus seems to turn the tables on such a focus, rather accentuating, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me” (John 11:41), and, “My sheep know, hear
and follow My voice.” (John 10:2, 4, 14, 16, 27; and 18:37) wOw, what a
change in perspective!
Hopefully, you
joined me previously in asking for new ears, as encouraged in the above
post. Now, my prayer and wish for you is to grow and proactively develop
your spiritual ears. Let’s start by AGREEING and ALIGNING our faith with
His faith-filled words in John 10. After all, as disciples, His Word is to be
the final authority in our lives, irrespective of our
circumstances or emotions/feelings, right?! Otherwise we are not His
disciples.
Prayer:
Father God, by faith,
I agree with My High Priest,
Jesus Christ,
Jesus Christ,
in saying, I know, I hear and, by Your merciful Grace,
I follow/obey
Your voice.
Reiterate this
prayer or a similar confession, out loud as often as necessary,
until, in your ‘heart of hearts’, you know-that-you-know-that-you-know... Why
out loud? It’s simple: A spoken word trumps a thought -- any day of the
week! Developing and activating your faith in this manner will revitalize your relationship with Christ, and revolutionize
your life!
NB: Hebrews 3 and 4 thrice iterate the
strong, direct connection between our spiritual ears and the condition of our
heart, saying, “Today, if you will
(wish to) hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”
~Rich
Blessings for a Great New Year~
