You’ve probably seen the cell phone commercials
where some fellow walks around talking on a cell
phone and saying, “Can you hear me now?” This
reminds me of the story of an elderly man who said to
his wife, “For fifty years you’ve been tried and true.”
She, hard of hearing, said, “What?” So he repeated
his statement. But again, she said, “What?” So he
yelled, “For fifty years you’ve been tried and true!!!”
She then responded, “Well, for fifty years I’ve been
tired of you, too!”
Sometimes we can hear the sound, but not hear
(understand) the message. For example, in Acts 9:7
the men with Paul “heard” a voice, yet 22:9 says that
they did not “hear” the voice. These men heard
something, but they did not understand what they
heard. In a sort-of, kind-of way, this would be like
someone yelling to you from a hundred yards away.
You can hear him yelling, but you can’t make out
what he’s saying. Yet, sometimes the inability to hear
is self-inflicted. Sometimes we hear what we want to
hear, and sometimes we simply refuse to hear.
Jesus shows the contrast: “Everyone who is of the
truth hears My voice” (Jn. 18:37). “He who rejects
Me, and does not receive My words, has that which
judges him — the word that I have spoken will judge
him in the last day” (12:48).
Friends, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
(Mk. 4:9).