Are You Listening
“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
The rivers of Africa can create considerable trouble for those who must cross. In many places, a pontoon is the only means of crossing a river which may be inhabited by crocodiles and hippos. At one of these crossings in Zambia, the driver uses a whistle to guide cars onto the pontoon. Every sound of the whistle means a certain move to be made. If the driver fails to listen closely or interprets a whistled direction wrongly, the result will be a bath in the river.
We are not likely to find ourselves in a river because we fail to listen. But we may miss some opportunities for service or some of the joys of life. "Let every one who has an ear, listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches."
The opposite of love is not hate; it is indifference. To the church at Laodicea, the Spirit said "I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot."
Are we really listening to the sounds around us during Advent? Do we hear the calls for help? We may shake our heads in sympathy or dismay, but a head-shake is the extent of our response. Perhaps it is this superficial involvement that results in our inability to hear what the Spirit is saying to us.
For Reflection: What am I hearing during this Advent season?
A Prayer Seed:
Hark, what a sound, and too divine for hearing,
Stirs on the earth and trembles in the air!
Is it the thunder of the Lord's appearing?
It is the music of His people's prayer?
Frederick William Henry Myers (1843-1901)
