Are we listening? Not just hearing a person, but listening to what they say impacts nearly all aspects of our lives. We see in Scripture that Pilate didn’t listen to Jesus. In John 18:37-38, we read: Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?”
Pilate was talking to “The Truth,” yet he wouldn’t take the time to listen. I wish I could come down hard on Pilate, but there have been innumerable times when I just heard _______, (fill in the blank) instead of listening to that person. How disrespectful Pilate was and I have been. It sickens me to think that he and I share something in common.
Living a Christian life is quite a different life from those still of this world. The Holy Spirit lives within us; we hear with different ears. We must not allow ourselves to live in “auto-pilot” mode and drift along. We need to be engaged at all time and in all situations. As Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV, emphasis added), “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you…”
Asking, as in the above verse, means the speaker has a question. If we aren’t listening, then we will miss the “asking,” and I, for one, am sick of acting like Pilate.
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