Do you see what I’m saying? Do you hear me? You’ve probably heard those questions before, or asked them of someone else. The questions use words related to our eyes and ears, but in essence they are asking, do you understand, do you know what I meant? It was always satisfying for me in teaching when a student really “got it.” The look on his/her face said it all.
We see and hear the world around us through our physical eyes and ears, and what a world of wonder it is. There is so much to take in. In the midst of all the visual and audible ugliness, we often fail to see and hear the beauty all around us. In addition to our physical sight and hearing, we are blessed with spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear the world within us. It is with our spiritual eyes and ears that we bring true meaning to the visible and audible world in which we live.
In the thirteenth chapter of Matthew, Jesus is speaking in parables to a large crowd. His disciples ask Him why the parables? He answers that the truth of the parables is revealed to those who see and hear spiritually, while it is concealed from those who do not. The unwillingness of people to see and hear God’s truths has long been a problem as Jesus points out in His quote from Isaiah 6:9. People neither see with their eyes nor hear with their ears because they really don’t want to. Their eyes and ears are closed to what is being presented (Acts 28:27). They become hardened in their viewpoints so that true discernment cannot take place.
Do you “see” and “hear” only those things that are pleasing to you, that are in agreement with your outlook? God has much more for you if you will look for Him, listen to Him, and learn about the plan He has for your life.
