WILLING TO HEAR
ACTS 28:24-28
ACTS 28:24-28 NKJ
24 And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. 25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, 26 saying,
'Go to this people and say:
"Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them."'
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
OBESRVATION:
Paul was given great favor by God. After his arrival in Rome as a prisoner he was not put in a Roman prison but allowed to live in his own rented house.
In this passage, Paul is speaking to the Jewish leaders in Rome. Paul would always start with the Jews. With the Jews, Paul would reason with them out of the scriptures. He used scriptures to show that Jesus was the Messiah.
Some believed. Some did not believe. And Paul quoted the prophet Isaiah as he spoke regarding the spiritual condition of the Jews.
He said that the hearts of the people had become dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed. But Paul does not say that God created this condition. The Jews were in that condition by choice. They had become dull and stopped being willing to listen and willing to see. This was on them and not God's desire.
This spiritual condition is reinforced in verse 28 when Paul declared that salvation had been sent to the Gentiles because they would hear it. That is the key word. They would hear it. The Gentiles were much more willing to hear. The Jews had become dull due to their unwillingness to listen.
APPLICATION:
Far too often, we have put everything on God. People have said God caused some to hear and some to be dull. But we see Jesus speaking to the Jews when He was on the earth. Over and over, Jesus would say that He who has ears to hear let him hear.
A willingness to hear what God is saying is not on God; it's on us. Sometimes people become willing to hear when they encounter a big problem they can't fix. But not always. Some encounter problems and get bitter at God and harden their hearts. So, problems are not the answer.
How do we become willing to hear? This is a place of trust. We trust God is real. We trust He is greater and smarter, so we are willing and eager to hear what He is saying.
There are other factors involved in a willing heart. But the key takeaway is that willing or not willing is up to us, not up to God.
PRAYER:
Dear Father. Help me to become willing to hear what You are saying to me by Your word and Your Holy Spirit. I am willing to hear.