Hearing Loss

Last week I heard a report about an eleven year old boy from Wales who suddenly regained the hearing in his right ear after nine years of partial deafness. Apparently, while playing pool with his friends, he felt a pop in his ear. Upon investigation, he found a piece of cotton that had been lodged in his ear canal for all those years.

The family thinks the boy had been playing with a cotton swab when he was two. The cotton wad broke off and stayed in his ear for almost a decade, despite the seeking of medical treatment for his hearing loss. No one had been able to detect the cotton. The hearing problem was blamed on wax build up that would come out on its own in time.

I couldn't help relating the clogged ear with a life of unconfessed sin. When we keep sinning, especially when we know what the Lord expects of us, our prayers are not heard. Proverbs 28:9 says, "One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination." The lines of communication are severed. We can't get any messages through, and we can't hear our directions clearly.

Sometimes people will say, "God's Word doesn't match up with the times. The Bible is old fashioned." What a lie from the devil! God's righteousness does not change. The expectations of a Holy God still stand. The world changes, but God does not.

As a Christian I am called to be Holy because God is Holy. When I sin, I must confess it before the Lord so I can be washed clean. If I don't, I can find myself compromising the values that I once held dear. It becomes easier to do things I never would have done before.

It is not easy to live a Holy life. That is why God sent Jesus - to save us from our sins. When Jesus returned to heaven, the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to call us to account and help us to be Holy.

Is there something that is blocking your access to the Lord? Remove the sin from your life, repent the trespass to the Lord, and you will soon hear the sweet sound of God's love.