Dear Friends,

READ ISAIAH 5:1 THROUGH 8:22

An elderly couple held hands as they sat in the doctor’s office. Leaning forward, the husband listened attentively as the doctor explained his cancer diagnosis and the best treatment options available.

“Do you understand your choices?” the doctor asked.

“My hearing is just fine,” the elderly man said. “But you may as well have spoken a foreign language because nothing made a lick of sense to me.”

The doctor’s office is not the only place people may hear well, but not understand. Sometimes it happens while people are seated in a pew or while they study the Bible. Long ago God addressed this human tendency.

He said, “Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving’” (Isaiah 6:9).

These ancient Israelites had calloused hearts. Their hearing was just fine. They did not close their ears. They closed their minds.

Many today would like to think this does not describe them. But are people today any different from the ancient Israelites of the Bible? One of the challenges that Israel had that still exists today is that they approached God/religion for what he could do for them instead of what they could do. This continues to be an issue as people sit in pews looking to be fed, challenged, or entertained.

The role of a priest is to serve the people on behalf of God. All believers are now priests of God, so is your approach to church to serve or to be served? Maybe this explains the condition of the church,

Prayer Suggestion: Dear God, please help me hear and obey everything in Your Word. May I serve and obey you by serving others.