A man named Marshall McLuhan once made an observation on the interesting design of human ears by writing, “Mankind does not come equipped with earlids, but we compensate for this oversight by developing selective listening.” Eugene Peterson went on to comment, “We are conveniently deaf to sounds that challenge our pride, command our obedience, interrupt our fantasies or call attention to our lapses.” It is truly amazing what we can miss—willfully. More than once, Jesus reminded, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.” Another way of saying that is, “Let the one who is willing to hear, listen.” Hearing and listening are not the same. In other words, as noted, we sometimes listen selectively. It’s probably a gift because there is a lot of noise and some voices should be tuned out. However, if we believe that Jesus has the words of life and that He is in fact smart enough to be right about what life is about and how to live it, shouldn’t we do our very best to hear and listen and do what He has to teach? He spoke to seven churches with a message for us all. “He that has ears to hear, let him hear.”