Are You Listening?

Back when the telegraph was the was the fastest method of long-distance
communication, a young man applied for a job as a Morse Code operator.
Answering an ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address that was
listed. When he arrived, he entered a large, busy office filled with noise
and clatter, including the sound of the telegraph in the background. A
sign on the receptionist's counter instructed job applicants to fill out a
form and wait until they were summoned to enter the inner office.
The young man filled out his form and sat down with the seven other
applicants in the waiting area. After a few minutes, the young man stood
up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in.
Naturally the other applicants perked up, wondering what was going on.
They muttered among themselves that they hadn't heard any summons yet.
They assumed that the young man who went into the office made a mistake
and would be disqualified.

Within a few minutes, however, the employer escorted the young man out of
the office and said to the other applicants, "Gentlemen, thank you very
much for coming, but the job has just been filled."

The other applicants began grumbling to each other, and one spoke up
saying, "Wait a minute, I don't understand. He was the last to come in,
and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job.
That's not fair!"

The employer said, "I'm sorry, but all the time you've been sitting here,
the telegraph has been ticking out the following message in Morse Code:
'If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.'
None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is
his."

We live in a world that is full of busyness and clatter, like that office.
People are distracted and unable to hear the still, small voice of God as
He speaks in creation, in the Scriptures, or in the life and work of Jesus
Christ. Are you tuned in to God's voice? Do you hear Him when He speaks to
you? Are you listening? "This is my Son, whom I love . . . Listen to Him!"