A large billboard advertising a hearing loss clinic can be seen on the drive from Calgary to Kananaskis country announcing “Hear it before you see it”. There is an accompanying picture of a large grizzly bear that clearly reminds of the danger of not being able to hear well. In Isaiah 55:3, God invites His people to ‘incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live‘.  James 1:19 ‘everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to becoming angry‘.

What we hear is a choice we make everyday. A mother can hear her baby’s cry from the other room, not because she has better hearing, but because she has made a choice of what is more important. When we were young, we often were dismayed that Grandma could hear everything so we even when we didn’t think we were in earshot! It didn’t occur to us that maybe Grandma had normal hearing but she was a just better listener while we were busy talking.

John 6:63 ‘the words that I have spoken to you, they are full of the Spirit and life‘. The same God that spoke the world into being at creation offers in the same measure the Holy Spirit everyday. When we choose to incline our ears to the Spirit of God everyday, we can say with the Psalmist, “I will fear no evil… (Psalm 23)”

Psalm 143:8 ‘ let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life‘. Everyday God offers us new life in the Spirit. Everyday we can offer up our life to Him in a fresh manner. Indeed, everyday with Jesus is sweeter than the day before!