SCRIPTURE: Matthew 13:16
(TM)
But you have
God-blessed eyes - eyes that see! And God-blessed ears - ears that hear!
STORY as told by Donald
D. Kennedy:
A forest ranger was walking along a city street with his
urban brother. “Do you hear that cricket?” the ranger said. When the brother
could not heart it, the ranger leaned over and picked up a cricket which had
been in a crack in the walk. The city brother was quite amazed. “It all depends
on what your ear is trained to hear,” the ranger added. Then he dropped a coin
on the sidewalk and many busy persons stopped to look for it. Their ears had
been trained to hear other noises than those of a cricket.
OBSERVATION:
We hear what we’ve trained ourselves to hear … we see what
we’ve taught ourselves to see. If we allow God to truly bless our eyes and ears
then we will be attuned to the sights and sounds of the Kingdom. Otherwise our
senses will be rooted to the mundane noise of a sick and dying world.
God’s blessings lift our senses to new horizons, one that is
filled with hope and possibilities. We will see and hear the subtle indicators
of the soul’s journey of others. God will so alter our sensitivity to those
around us that like Jesus we will know when our “hem” has been touched by a
sick and hurting person (Mark 5:24-34). These individuals are all around us. They
have gotten caught in the cracks of life. They crowd in on us. Their cries for
help often go unanswered because the absence of God-blessed ears to hear their
pleas for help. Because our focus is on we think are “more important” things we
fail to see the sadness in their eyes, the slump of their walk, the burden of
their hearts, but with God-blessed eyes the revelation of the world in which
they live will be opened to us.
Jesus didn’t come simply to get us into heaven – that
thinking is so limiting. He came to free us up so that we could be some earthly
good. To use our God-blessed earing and sight so that we can truly be our
brothers and sisters keeper.
Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.
Silently now I wait for thee,
Ready, my God thy will to see;
Open my eyes, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
Open my ears, that I may hear
Voices of truth thou sendest clear;
And while the wave notes fall on my ear,
Everything else will disappear.
Silently now I wait for thee,
Ready, my God thy will to see;
Open my ears, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
Open my mouth, and let me bear
Gladly the warm truth everywhere;
Open my heart and let me prepare
Love with thy children thus to share.
Silently now I wait for thee,
Ready, my God thy will to see;
Open my heart, illumine me,
Spirit divine!
PRAYER:
Here are our ears … open them please; here are our ears …
open them please; here is our heart … open it please … Oh, Spirit Divine, here
we are ready to be a blessing to others. Make us sensitive to the souls around us
who have gotten caught in the cracks of the pathways of life.
I LOVED this one too! Last week I was standing in a long line at a pharmacy, and the song "Would You Like to Swing on a Star" started playing overhead. That song just tickles me, and I started to giggle. I turned to an older gal in line behind me and said that I hadn't heard that song in years (I'm in my 40's, but I've heard it). She was probably in her 70's and said she couldn't hear it, so I sang a little part of it for her. She sang the whole rest of the song and swayed back and forth while she did it. Everyone else in line was watching with big grins on their faces. This woman was just LOVING this song...and waiting in line became a little bit of joy in our day...simply because one of us noticed the overhead song and pointed it out to just the right person who needed to hear it. ;)
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