“The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The LORD has made both of them.” ~Prov 20:11

This verse is talking about the Spirit man. God made us spirit beings with senses just like him so that we can relate with him and function like him. Man’s physical body and his natural senses are not tools to function on earth but evidence and an expression of what exists in the spiritual realm. “He who aNixed the ear, can He not hear? He who formed the eye, can He not see?” (Psalm 94:9) God sees and hears. He can smell the sweet fragrance of our prayers and praise. He feels because he is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. With his sense of taste, he can tell if a Christian is hot or lukewarm, or cold. We also have these senses in our spirit man, but we will be focusing on hearing and seeing.

These two senses are important and emphasized in many verses of the bible because our entire relationship with God revolves around them. First, it takes hearing and seeing to be born again. Romans 10:17 lets us know that faith for salvation comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Ephesians 1:13 confirms it; we heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation and we believed. That qualified us to be sealed with the Holy Spirit. The role of seeing in receiving salvation is explained in 2 Cor 4:3. Some don’t receive the Word because the God of this world has blinded them therefore, the gospel is veiled to them.

“Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:10). Therefore, it is important for us as a church in our corporate and individual prayers to pray for the opening of eyes and unblocking of ears for those who have not received the gospel so that the word of God can have free course and be effective when it is preached.

Now, after we have come to Christ, our relationship with God also revolves around hearing and seeing. This is not necessarily something spectacular like prophecy and visions; it is the simple day to day communication we have with God as his dear children. God is a God of relationship. We entered into a relationship with God when we got born again but our relationship with him cannot be fruitful without fellowship. The way he fellowships with us is by talking to us and showing us things. When he created the first man and woman, he would come down in the cool of the evening just to fellowship with them.

Jesus told his disciples, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” (Matthew 13:16) Why did he make this statement? Because God has designed the just to live by faith and our faith is fed only by what God says to us and shows us. The verse “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Can also be said this way, “Man shall live by faith.” Because faith comes by hearing and understanding God’s word.

Hearing and seeing has been wrongly interpreted as only operating in gifts of the Spirit Word of knowledge, word of wisdom and prophecy. So, we hear Christians say things like, Ah! that man can see.” Like it is restricted to a certain group of Christians that God loves specially. Every child of God has hearing ears and seeing eyes but not all are using them. Hearing simply means to be receptive of God’s word and to obey it. Seeing means to understand and gain insight and wisdom through the word of God. Seeing depends on hearing because being receptive of God’s word makes it easy for us to gain insight and understanding.

The only way to activate our spiritual ears and sight as children of God is by being willing to seekGod.He has a lot to say to us but he cannot if we do not draw near.“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen toyou. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”(Jer 29:11-13) God has thoughts he wants to communicate to us, things he wants to show us and he is waiting on us to pay attention. Hearing ears and seeing eyes are not for special Christians, they are for as many as will draw near.

As we go this week, let us purpose in our hearts to begin to seek God in his word. Let us determine to set time apart to fellowship with him in prayers and live every minute of the day with the consciousness of his presence. That is how to activate the hearing ears and seeing eyes that Gods had given us.