When I first moved into my apartment, the challenge of the train confronted me. A block away from the frequent passing box cars, oil tankers and numerable other merchandise on flat cars moved toward their next destination. At every crossing, the faithful engineer sounded the horn of warning, and with nothing competing with the locomotive in the wee hours of the night, its rumbling presence and jarring blasts robbed me of sleep.

Then without notice, the sound of the train faded from my consciousness, and now, its annoying interruptions go unnoticed. Did the train get quieter or has my hearing become impaired? No, I’ve trained my mind to dismiss what I didn’t want to hear. We define it as getting used to it and shutting it out.

Does this ability to stifle unwanted noise effect other parts of life? Consider if listening to God’s voice is essential; the far-reaching impact of not hearing Him has for your future. When Jesus talks, do you close your mind without thought or are you listening?

God is in a hurry to get everyone’s attention. The signs in heaven and earth are resounding the warning that something unexpected is to take place. Do we prefer not to hear what God reports, so we tune it out? Do we lose sleep at night, so we discipline our minds to close out what we don’t want to hear?

Hebrews 3: 7-8, 13 New International Version (NIV)
7. So, as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you hear his voice,
8. do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion
13. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.