A Ringing in the Ears.
For my daily devotions, I frequently turn to Charles Spurgeon’s Morning and Evening devotional book. I personally highly recommend Spurgeon's devotional for any who struggle reading the Scripture daily, or for those who may need a bit of assistance on what exactly to read. Recently, a devotion that Spurgeon wrote came from Romans 7:13, entitled, “Sinful beyond measure.”
The words that Spurgeon penned that day rang loud as a warning to my soul. They blared like a siren that warns a city of an approaching tornado that threatens life, limb, and property. Spurgeon wrote, “By degrees men grow familiar with sin.” And, as one may assume, he is exactly correct. Familiarity comes by becoming more and more well-known with something, or someone. As one becomes more familiar with individuals, they may feel freer to bring up different topics of conversation, tell edgier jokes, or simply become more comfortable with the individual. This is certainly not the case when one first meets their boss or a highly influential person. Typically, people mind what they say and how they act around such people until they become more familiar with the individual, but only by degrees at a time.
Such is the case with sin. As Spurgeon noted, those who are infants in their faith will be extremely sensitive to any kind of interaction with sin, or what might be considered sinful. But, over time, they become increasingly callous to such things and more readily engage in and with sinful behavior. Sin has become familiar to the redeemed Christian.
Spurgeon likens this familiarity to a man who stands next to the booming cannon for too long without any kind of hearing protection. At first, the man will be startled, or have a ringing in his ears, for standing so close to such a loud noise – if the man persists, he will gradually lose his hearing to where any sound will ring loudly in his ears – a condition called Tinnitus.
Tinnitus is a hearing condition (a ringing in the ear) that is often found in military personnel, factory workers, musicians, or even in those who listen to music too loudly in their car for extended periods. Tinnitus can develop due to over-exposure to loud sounds for extended periods of time. And, as the condition worsens, even light sounds can cause a harsh ringing that can lead to severe or even debilitating headaches.
Such is the same for the Christian who has been given ears to hear, eyes to see, and a mind to understand, by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Christian’s ears have been made new to hear the glorious sound of the gospel and mighty works of God. The Christian’s eyes have been opened to behold the glory of Christ; and, the Christian’s mind has been renewed to know God and all that he is.
How terrible a curse it would be, for the Christian, to be given such things only to deafen, blind, and make themselves dumb to the gospel once again by familiarity with sin!
Foolishly, many Christians stand next to the chorus of cannons as they sing, boldly exclaiming, “See! I am fine, I hear with clarity!” Or, as they stare at the sun of their sinful desires saying, “Behold, I see clearly!” And poison their minds with the cares of the world with confidence saying, “I know and understand.” These, like so many, continue without pause despite the warnings of Jesus Christ, the commands of Scripture, or warnings from holy friends. They walk aimlessly, not knowing where they are going. They go blindly, not seeing where they walk; deaf, unable to hear, and fall easily into the pit, the trap of sin that is lain for them by their adversary the devil.
Good Christian, have the words of Christ ring loudly and sweetly like birds chirping on a cool spring morning. Let the Word of Christ fill your mind and ears that you might be deaf to all the siren songs of sin and temptation. Your flesh recognizes the song of sin, and it longs to return to the things detestable to God. Fill your mind with Christ, hear the words of Christ, and behold the glory of Christ – that you may see, hear, and know the greatness of our God.
