I know you’ve experienced it – been on your cell with someone, telling them something that is really important to you and you realize they aren’t listening. When that happens I’ve been tempted to say “I was just stepped on by a huge green elephant” to which I know their reply would be something like “Oh really, that’s nice”. Yep, they’re not listening!
When the kids were little and we wanted them to pay attention to what we were saying we would tell them to “get your catchers on”. That meant we are about to say something you really need to listen to so catch every word we say.
I’ve been doing a lot of listening the last few days. People have needed to talk and they’ve needed someone who was willing to listen. Listening doesn’t mean giving answers or advice, it means listening. Yesterday afternoon, Dave came in and he was telling me something. I had been watching TV so I grabbed the remote, put the program on mute and asked him to repeat what he had said. I wanted to listen and not be distracted.
Just this morning while I was reading Proverbs 23 I came across 4 examples of Solomon giving instruction to listen.
“Listen to your teacher and learn all you can.” Verse 12 ERV
“Open your heart to teaching, and your ears to words of much learning.” Verse 12 NLV
“Listen to instruction and do your best to learn.” Verse 12 CEV
Three different translations saying the same thing – Listen!
Then there was this verse:
“So listen, my son, and be wise. Always be careful to follow the right path.” Verse 19 ERV
And this one:
“Listen to your father. Without him, you would never have been born. Respect your mother, even when she is old. 23 Truth, wisdom, learning, and understanding are worth paying money for. They are worth far too much to ever sell.” Verse 22 & 23
And finally,
“My son, pay close attention, and gladly follow my example.” Verse 26
You see that? Solomon was making sure we had our catchers on. Jesus did the same thing with his teaching. He gave his followers a head’s up during his sermons. It went something like this:
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3 KJV
Repeating the phrase verily, verily was not a waste of words, it was spoken for emphasis and it meant I am telling you a great truth, listen up, pay attention. As you read through the Bible look for these clues. It’s ALL important and we can learn something from each Scripture we read but take to heart when the writer says listen.
When I was in high school I was on the speech team and loved going to competitions. I was assigned a topic once and needed to explain the difference between hearing and listening. We all hear, unless we are impaired but we don’t all listen.
“Hearing is simply the act of perceiving sound by the ear. If you are not hearing-impaired, hearing simply happens. Listening, however, is something you consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration so that your brain processes meaning from words and sentences.” University of Minnesota, Duluth
The King James Bible is written in Old English and is filled with words like thee, thou, come hither, whithersoever, etc. and can be a little more difficult to understand but there is one phrase that I really like, “hearken diligently”. Simply put it means to listen up.
“Listen to and obey (hearken diligently) all the Laws I am telling you today. Love the Lord your God. Work for Him with all your heart and soul. If you do, 14 He will give the rain for your land at the right times, the early and late rain. So you may gather in your grain, your new wine and your oil. 15 He will give grass in your fields for your cattle. And you will eat and be filled. 16 Be careful not to let your hearts be fooled so you turn away and work for other gods and worship them.” Deuteronomy 11:13-16 NLV
God promises to bring blessings into our lives when we “hearken diligently” to His word. He has so many good things for us, we need to listen.
I’ve encouraged you in the past and will again, when you are reading the Bible don’t focus on how much you read, rather concentrate on the content. What you are reading is really God talking to you. Are you listening?
Get your catchers on!
