August 3

Deaf and Dumb

Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly. — Mark 7:35 BSB

It’s a wonderful thing to have deaf ears opened. Throughout the Bible, we read, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This suggests that some people have no ears at all, and others, though they have ears, do not truly hear. Someone who cannot hear is missing out on so much. The world is filled with beautiful sounds—songs of birds, the tones of human voices, the beauty of music. The deaf miss out on all this, and when their ears are opened, they gain so much.

Likewise, our souls have ears—ears that are designed to hear the voice of God and the harmonies of heaven. Yet many people are completely deaf to these spiritual sounds. They don’t hear God’s voice in nature, in the whisper of conscience, or in the words of Scripture. But Christ can open these spiritual ears so that we can hear the music of heaven even while we are here on earth. What a blessing it would be if Christians would ask Christ to open their ears to hear His voice.

It’s also a great gift to have our tongues loosed so that we can speak of these things to others. But some people, even though their ears have been opened, still have their tongues tied. They don’t speak about God’s love. When it comes to talking about spiritual things, they stammer and hesitate, even though they can speak fluently about other topics. There are Christians who are very eloquent when discussing business, science, farming, or whatever occupies their minds, but the moment the conversation turns to spiritual matters, their eloquence disappears. They are tongue-tied Christians. What a blessing it would be if Christ would one day loosen their tongues so that they could speak plainly about their faith!