Press the arrow to listen to Michael W. Smith sing “Ancient Words” while reading today’s devotional about listening. Read more on how to journal.

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Scripture
Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Revelation 1:3

Observation
I rarely read the Bible. I prefer to listen to the Bible being read with my ears more that taking it in off of the page with my eyes. I like listening better than reading the Scriptures silently to myself. With audio Bibles, it is so easy to have my own personal reader. Every morning I visit http://m.enewhope.org/bible on my iPhone and listen to the day’s readings.

The Bible was meant to be read aloud. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Only since 1450 with the printing press has anyone had a chance to get their hands on a personal copy of the Bible. In fact, only in the past 150 years or so has the Bible been cheap enough for the average family to own one. To read the Bible, one had to go to church or a house gathering where a copy of the Bible was kept to be read aloud.

The Bible was meant to be heard, because words are living things that enter the ears and take over the hearer. Listening to the Bible being read aloud is like a deep soaking rain. Our minds can process faster than the reader can speak.  The extra brain space gives our minds room for imagination. The Holy Spirit also has elbow room to be at work. If God spoke and it was so, then there is something miraculous about Bible promises echoing in our ears. New life is created. Faith arises.

Application
The challenge is to be hear the word and to take it to heart. This is what comes to the ears moving deeper. Being read to is sometimes tedious. The mind wanders. This is where meditation can kick in. Reflecting on the word is what fills in the gaps and changes the heart.

Prayer
Father, often I find I read and forget. I want to be one who reads and remembers because the meaning has saturated me. I ask today, keep the word in my heart safe by causing it too grow with words so deep that can never be extracted. Amen.