HE AWAKENS MY EAR

I didn’t realize how guilty I was of the sin of having defiled ears until I was on a preaching trip to the British Isles. My son Gary and I were being driven to a preaching event by a pastor who politely asked how our meetings had been going. When I tried to answer, he interrupted me to talk about his own preaching. This happened several times and each time, he “one-upped” me with stories of having bigger crowds and visiting more countries than I had.
Finally, I decided to just shut up and let him talk. At one point, I looked at Gary and rolled my eyes, thinking, “What a boastful man. This preacher is a nonstop talker.”
Then I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit whisper to me, “Think about why you’re upset, David. It’s because this man isn’t listening to you. You wanted to do the talking and now that you’re hearing his stories, you want to brag about your own ministry. You may have stopped talking, but you have a boastful spirit in your heart.”
What’s more, I had defiled my mouth. Notice that I didn’t speak anything terrible about this man. In fact, I hadn’t said a single word about him. Yet, by merely rolling my eyes, I had slandered him to my son.
I can speak about holiness, I can expose society’s sins, I can preach on the victory of the New Covenant. But if I allow my ears to be defiled—if I shut out another person by focusing on my own interests, if I can’t listen to him with respect—then the life of Christ isn’t prolonged in me. I am no longer leading a life that satisfies my Lord and I am not bearing the fruit of His travail.
“He wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back” (Isaiah 50:4-5).
“Mine ears hast thou opened” (Psalm 40:6).