Two new members of the AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) were talking about how vain women are. “Our wives are so vain. They don’t want to admit they are getting old,” one noted.

“I found a way to prove to them that they are getting old,” said the second. “You stand behind them a certain distance when they don’t know you are there, and say something, but they can’t hear you. That proves to them that they are getting hard of hearing.”

So the first fellow goes home and finds his wife in the kitchen washing dishes with her back toward him. “What are we having for lunch?” he said in a loud voice. Nothing. So he moves closer, “What are we having for lunch?” Still no response. So finally he moves right behind her and shouts, “What are we having for lunch!”

His wife turns to him with an exasperated look and says, “For the third time I tell you, fried chicken!”

Life is funny. It seems that each new birthday increases my wife’s sense of hearing. With her husband, though, it’s another story. When we watch television together one of my favorite phrases is, “Turn it up, please.” When I listen to music, it hurts her ears. When she’s ninety, she’ll be able to hear a twig snap one kilometer away, if this keeps up.

I don’t even want to know what her husband will be like if he makes it to ninety. “Huh? What? How’s that?” (“Turn your hearing aid on, goofball!”)

God addresses a whole flock of hard of hearing people.

“Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your [spiritual] hearing and sluggish [even slothful in achieving spiritual insight]. For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God’s Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food.” (Heb. 5:11, 12, Amplified)

Though it’s frustrating to lose one’s physical hearing capacity, it’s deadly when you lose your spiritual hearing capacity. The people who received this letter (Hebrews) were evidently thinking of turning their back on Christ and going back to their old way of life and worship. Less persecution, you see.

Spiritually, they had shrunk. They couldn’t understand spiritual truths that seemed evident to them in the past. Godly things didn’t interest them nearly as much as before. “Yeah, Church is important, but you know, I’m not as gung-ho as I once was. There are other things in life you see.

“It’s okay if they want to be zealous for the Lord Jesus and you know, I’m not leaving the Lord. I just want to do other things.”

They’ve traded their heavenly marriage certificate for a simple fire-insurance policy. “Just do the minimum. You don’t need to be all-out for the Lord,” they think. Something else has captured the best part of their heart.

And it’s getting harder and harder to hear God’s voice, harder and harder to want to obey Him. People who should be in a spiritual Master’s degree program have regressed and are trying to fit their long legs under kindergarten tables.

What a shame.

The flip side of that is good news, though. You can grow. You can mature IF YOU WANT TO! (Excuse me for shouting but it’s exciting).

“By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.” (From Hebrews 5, The Message)

“Teachers yourselves,” “solid food,” “mature.” Hey, there’s hope if you’ll re-center your heart and dig the wax out of your ears. And cut some of that earhair!

Hey! How’s your hearing?

_________________________

Hmmm…

“The prayers and supplications that Christ offered up were joined with strong cries and tears, herein setting us an example not only to pray, but to be fervent and importunate in prayer. How many dry prayers, how few wet ones, do we offer up to God!” (Matthew Henry commenting on Heb. 5:6.)