“Did you hear that?”
That’s a question I get a lot these days. Probably because of my old mantra “If it’s too loud, you’re too old.”
I now have a new go to phrase… “If it’s too loud, turn it down, what’s wrong with you!”
Whatever standard of audible criteria you live under, one thing is plain to us all… we need to hear clearly.
We’ve been logging lots of road miles the last few days on our family vacation… Little Rock, Ak; West Monroe, La; Dallas/Fort Worth, Tx… the list continues to grow.
After we play the alphabet game, make our plans for the day, and have our devotion time, my passengers tend to drift off into the land of YouTube videos on the smartphone, their own book, or… they just drift off period.
That’s when I pull out an audible book which has been my friend for several years on the road. I’ve recently been going back through the CS Lewis Chronicles of Narnia collection. I know it’s a children’s collection, but I absolutely love the imagery of Jesus as a massive roaring lion defending the realm, sacrificing Himself and interacting in such a very real way with broken people.
In the prequel to the entire series called “The Magicians Nephew,” there is a moment in which the children’s uncle who is a scheming scoundrel of a man needs help in a very serious way. And, even though he’s been nothing but vile to the children they ask Aslan, the massive and regal lion (Jesus), to speak a comforting word to him.
Aslan responds,
“But I cannot tell that to this old sinner, and I cannot comfort him either; he has made himself unable to hear my voice. If I spoke to him, he would hear only growlings and roarings. Oh Adam’s sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good! “
Dear Jesus, protect us from ourselves! The words of this children’s book are all too true!
We have cleverly found ways to shut out God from our schools, courthouses and culture. In doing so, we have refused to hear His voice and God has given us what we have asked for… now the wisdom of God is nearly impossible to hear in the marketplace of ideas.
The mercies of God have been reduced to veiled and confused sentimentalities robbed of God, truth and grace.
The direction and guidance of God has been clouded by the pseudo-genius of this age and we have truly become the blind leading the blind.
The roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah still rings and shakes the halls of eternity, but most in this world only hear a… distraction.
Then they turn to one another and ask… “Did you hear that?” But, nothing changes; no one changes.
It’s time for us to run back to Him, His word and His church, to plead for forgiveness and ask that God would soften our hearts and unstop our ears.
That we would once again both tremble and rejoice when we hear the majestic roar of the Author of Creation, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Matthew 11:15
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”