Ears to Hear

Friday, April 14, 2023

Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before.  You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it.  It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.  I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me.  Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.  He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.  He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve.  After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died.  Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.  Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him.  For I am the least of all the apostles. In fact, I’m not even worthy to be called an apostle after the way I persecuted God’s church.  But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me—and not without results.  For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 1 Corinthians 15:3-10

A rabbit’s most recognizable feature is the size of the hare’s ears.  They are huge! And there are (at least) two survival-based reasons for big ears: 

a.     Thermoregulation – with massive amounts of blood vessels, depending on the climate, they heat or cool their body temperature.

b.    Enemies – Rotating up to 270°, independent of what the other ear is doing, a rabbit can hear and pinpoint the sounds of predators up to 2 miles away.

There is a lesson for disciples of Chirst in those rabbit ears.  They have the equipment to regulate their body temperature to withstand extreme environments, and escape mortal enemies.  But their most effective weapon is their common sense to use those God-designed abilities. 

Christians are also gifted with survival weapons, abilities to understand the culture and climate of their surroundings, thereby being prepared for spiritual warfare with the main predator – Satan.  Here’s what Paul said about them:

The Holy Spirit works in each person in one way or another for the good of all.  One person is given the gift of teaching words of wisdom.  Another person is given the gift of teaching what he has learned and knows.  These gifts are by the same Holy Spirit.  One person receives the gift of faith.  Another person receives the gifts of healing.  These gifts are given by the same Holy Spirit.  One person is given the gift of doing powerful works.  Another person is given the gift of speaking God’s Word.  Another person is given the gift of telling the difference between the Holy Spirit and false spirits.  Another person is given the gift of speaking in special sounds.  Another person is given the gift of telling what these special sounds mean.  But it is the same Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, Who does all these things.  He gives to each person as He wants to give.  

1 Corinthians 12:7-11

These are God’s special gifts to His children, for the sake of protection from the enemy, and accomplishing God’s work here on earth.

As with rabbits and their ears protecting them from what aims to have them for dinner, when you’ve got awesome gifts to see you through…they’re useless, unless you’re willing to stay alert and use them.

For You Today 

If you’ve got ears to hear and understand, put your Godly gifts to beneficial use.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Just As the Scriptures Said  and  Whatever I Am Now  

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©