Jim Daly Christian Blog and Commentary

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Selective Hearing

  • Jim Daly Jim Daly is president and chief executive officer of Focus on the Family, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families thrive.
  • Published Oct 04, 2011

Posted by Jim_Daly Oct 3, 2011

 

 

 

A thought-provoking story:

It was high noon in Manhattan, and the streets were, as usual, buzzing with crowds, cars, taxis, horns blowing, brakes screeching, sirens wailing. Two men were making their way together through the crowd. One was a native New Yorker, and the other a visiting farmer from Kansas. Suddenly the farmer stopped in his tracks. “Hold on,” he said, “I hear a cricket.”

His friend replied, “Are you kidding? Even if there were a cricket around here, which isn’t likely, you would never be able to hear it over all this noise.”

The farmer remained quiet for a few moments and walked several paces to the corner where a bush was growing in a large cement planter. He turned several leaves over and found the cricket. The city man was flabbergasted.

“What great ears you have,” he said. “”No,” the farmer replied, “it’s a matter of what you’ve been conditioned to listen for. Look, I’ll show you.”

With that, he pulled a handful of coins from his pocket and let them drop to the sidewalk. As if on signal, every head on the block turned.

“You see,” said the farmer, “you hear what you want to hear. It’s a matter of what you’re listening for.”

As you begin a new month and week, do you have ears to hear what the Lord is saying to you?

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