What Are You Hearing?

Congratulations everyone!  You’ve just about made it through the first week of 2018.  How did that go for you?  I can’t complain about our week.  I actually got a jump on organizing our bill paying system, filed last year’s financial and medical receipts and records away, changed all the calendars to the current year… oophs… just remembered the one hanging over my work bench in the garage… re-reviewed Piper’s and my medical insurance for the new year and put the new medical cards in my wallet!

Because of Piper’s health issues I have had to be very diligent in making sure that her medical insurance is current and that I have a good understanding of the policy with its deductions, limits and coverages.  The same goes for the information coming out of every doctor’s appointment, nurse’s visit, nurse’s aide activities, weekly trips to the pharmacy and the monthly visits with the Hospice social worker.  All of this therefore, entails that I be a good listener and understand exactly what is being communicated.  Therefore, I have learned to ask MANY questions to ensure that I am perceiving the correct sense and details of what I am hearing!

Luke 2:18 tells us that “Everyone who heard the shepherds’ story was AMAZED.” (God’s Word ©)  I followed a hunch this morning and ran a word study on the Greek meaning of the word translated “heard.”  Following this activity I quickly came to understand that not everyone who was within the sound of the shepherd’s voices on that cold evening in the barn behind the inn in the town of Bethlehem may have actually grasped the reality of the words being spoken.  According to Thayer’s Greek Definitions the word “heard” is defined as being able “to understand, (and/or) perceive the sense of what is said.”

Over the years in secular management positions as well as in Christian ministry, I have had conversations with other well-meaning individuals who you could tell did not really understand or perceive the point that I was trying to make.  The look on their faces or the comments they made in response to my words made it pretty obvious.

When interacting with the various health professionals we have come into contact with over the last ten years, I have learned to make it a point that I fully understand what is being discussed concerning the details of my wife’s health needs.  We have been blessed that most of the healthcare individuals that we have worked with have been very forth-coming, open and clear about their thoughts and/or diagnosis.

I can’t always say the same thing when it came to sharing Piper’s situation, needs or personal concerns with others outside of the medical profession.  It reminds me of a news program that we were watching a few nights ago when the commentator brought in a panel of “experts” to discuss the current news subject that he was reporting on.  It became pretty obvious early on that one of the panelists either completely missed the intent or sense of the conversation or simply kept ignoring it in order to espouse his own agenda.

The frustration on the other panelists faces and the host was quite evident.  But I have to give kudos to the host as he gently and calmly attempted to bring the one panelist back on track… although he never did attain it and finally with a laugh, broke off on a commercial break!  Believe me when I say that I know that feeling! 

If I get the jest of what Luke was trying to communicate in our scripture, I would have to say that there were probably some on-lookers in that stable that night that listened to the words being spoken by the excited shepherd’s, but failed to understand the great significance of the story being told.  Of the ancient long-held Jewish prophecies that were being fulfilled or of the world shaking, life changing meaning behind what they were witnesses to that night! 

Some people like Mary, Joseph and the shepherd’s went home that night filled with awe, excitement and great expectation of what Jehovah was doing within their lifetime!  Others, I’m pretty sure, simply left and shook their heads in confusion and maybe even laughed a bit at the funny way that the shepherd’s reacted to the birth of the baby boy that was laid in that dumb little feeding trough.  These same folks most likely went on living their mundane lives without ever experiencing the changes and miraculous events that followed the birth of that one special baby on that cold night in the little, seemingly insignificant out-of-the-way town of Bethlehem.

While those who actually “heard” what was being said and happening before them lived their lives in vibrant and excited expectation, looking for and experiencing the miraculous that followed the ministry of that little baby when he grew into manhood and began His ministry at the age of thirty, many years later.

Like I said at the beginning of this new study in my post on Monday, this is the same type of excitement and expectation that I desire to continue to have EVERY time I read my Bible.  Romans 10:17 teaches us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (KJV), so I want and expect my faith to grow and blossom into new frontiers were I haven’t walked before.  I fully expect to be as excited, expectant and joy-filled as those shepherds were that night!  When I open my Bible I definitely want to “HEAR” and clearly perceive the sense of what the writer is saying to me.

What about you?  How well do you “HEAR” what is being said in the various conversations that you are involved with each day… or when you open the pages of God’s Word and receive what is being spoken to you?

Have a great first weekend of 2018, and as you do, keep asking yourself… “What perception and sense am I expecting to have when I read my Bible today?”