I was thinking yesterday that we sometimes go through the motions of “going to church” ……….it reminded me of the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 13:13-15

This is why I speak to them in parables: "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:" `You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'

It’s like JESUS is saying “they don’t take me seriously” so they don’t hear.

Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not understand. It reminds me of when we went to the see the Philadelphia Orchestra, I’m sure that some of the audience who heard the performance of Handel’s Messiah and they listened to the music and the words which are right out of the Bible, and left very impressed with the music but no more.

Or when you come to a children’s Christmas performance and all you remember is whether your daughter or grandson said his part right, but you really didn’t pay attention to the meaning of the part or the words in the play.

We must ask “do I go home from worshipping the Lord and all I think about is the conversation I had with someone or the style of music – or who was there and who wasn’t there, well then we have missed the message! You clearly can see it in people who read the Bible and all they get out of it is that “Jesus was a nice guy” who taught some good moral values, and that’s it. Instead of looking at God’s Word as a call to repentance and faith, it is just a story about how to live a good life. This would be seeing and they do not see; though hearing they do not hear or understand. Don’t let your hearts grow calloused to the truth and the purpose of God’s Word. It can impair your hearing and perception.