How many of you have children or grandchildren who love to play the video games or listen to music? How many times have you tried to speak to them when they had their ear buds in and they didn’t hear or clearly understand what you were saying? I see people walking down the street, driving an automobile, or even sitting in church with ear buds in their ears. There is no way to be fully attentive to the things around you unless you open your ears and hear what people are saying and doing. I think the same is true with our spiritual lives. We have so many things drowning out what God is trying to say to us that we don’t hear Him clear. It is not that our hearts don’t want to hear, it’s that our lives are so cluttered with other things that we don’t listen. (Isaiah 26:9 My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness.) Nothing can replace the fellowship and communication of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The only way to enjoy close communion with God is to be able to hear that still small voice that directs our life. The world makes it easy for us to fill our ears with all kinds of things that drown out the voice of God and push Him far into the background of our daily life. Pull out those ear buds so you can hear God. There will come a day when you need Him and you will want Him to hear you. Pastor Don [image: image.png]