The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens— wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught.
Isaiah 50:4

We often think of our Lord Jesus as the world’s greatest teacher. Multitudes flocked to hear Him, hanging on every word. Even those sent to arrest Him were stunned, reporting back, “Never has anyone spoken like this!” (John 7:46). Who can forget Jesus’ wondrous stories, His powerful picture language, and His word for the weary?

But we miss something critical if we miss this: before Jesus was the world’s greatest teacher, He was first the world’s greatest listener. Jesus knew that before He ever opened His mouth, He first had to listen to the Father. Jesus wanted to often remind people where His stories and words came from, saying, “I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49). This is how Jesus had the gift for having just the right word. This is how Jesus knew what to say to the woman caught in adultery, a questioning Nicodemus, and a headstrong Peter. Jesus had begun His day listening to His Father.

I invite you now to listen, listen to the voice of God in today’s scripture. Here is a prophecy about Jesus, 700 years before His coming. In this scripture the prophet Isaiah speaks of Messiah Jesus as one who listens to the Father to give Him “the tongue of a teacher” so that Jesus knows “how to sustain the weary with a word.”

The eternal Son of God let go His infinite knowledge of all things when He humbled Himself to become one with us and take up our cause. So, just like you, like me, Jesus had to listen to the Father “morning by morning.”

Jesus awakened to the morning, not to an alarm clock or smart phone, but to the voice of Abba Father. “Morning by morning” Father opened His classroom. That is why Jesus always made it His priority to begin His day listening to Father: “In the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed” (Mark 1:35).

In this we are reminded of an important Biblical truth: “the ear is the seat of intelligence.” (Jacque B. Doukhan, Hebrew for Theologians: A Textbook for the Study of Biblical Hebrew in Relation to Hebrew Thinking). Real intelligence begins with the gift of listening. Wisdom is not something we are born with; we must listen carefully for it. We are not surprised that the Book of Proverbs begins with a command to listen: “Hear, my child” (Proverbs 1:8) and “Listen children” (Proverbs 4:1). It was Solomon, author of Proverbs and reputed wisest person of his time, who asked God for what was literally, “a hearing heart” (shomeya lev), based on the Hebrew verb shema. And Israel’s great confession of faith, “The Shema”, begins with a call to listen: Hear (shema), O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (Deuteronomy 6:4). We might wonder if Jesus’ half-brother James had learned from Jesus’ listening heart and thus exhorted readers “let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak” (James 1:19).

If your life is anything like mine, you daily face an overwhelming flood of digital information: emails, social media, retweets, constant notifications, and breaking news. This noise competes for our attention, leaving many believers struggling to find the time or mental space to listen to the Word of God. This presents a significant challenge to spiritual life, as it dilutes the depth and consistency of our connection with God.

As I pray with the little boy Samuel, “Speak Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Samuel 3:10), I sense the Spirit of God saying to me:

• SET DIGITAL BOUNDARIES and limit your time of social media, news apps, and email so that you can focus on Scripture and prayerful listening.
• PRIORTIZE DAILY DEVOTIONS and create a habit of spending time in God’s Word before engaging the digital world.
• PRACTICE SABBATH REST and take frequent breaks from screens in order to connect with God and experience His presence and peace.
• LISTEN ACTIVELY to how God might speak through the words of friend, going for a walk, or just being still.

Jesus does ask all of us who would follow Him, “Let anyone with ears listen!” (Matthew 11:15).

A fellow traveler,
Tim