Holistic and Spiritual Perception

UV 3710/10000 Holistic and Spiritual Perception Go to the people and say, “ You will keep on hearing, but will not understand, you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive. Acts 28 v 26 In this uni-verse, the apostle Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah to drive home the point that people do not understand a single point spoken and heard. They do not recall a single point, apply it in their lives. People have become insensitive and insensible even as they appear to be hearing and seeing the things God has done in their lives. It is as if they are deaf, dumb and blind. People hear the word week after week but cannot recall a single point that they understand and apply to their lives constantly. There is no qualitative change to their lives and behaviour due to constantly hearing the word of God. If we do not perceive correctly, we will not receive. The Holy Spirit sharpens the acuity of our senses and our sense if we only let Him. He is the Counsellor and the Rememberancer. Hence, we should pray, “ Lord, help me understand. Let not my understanding be dull. Help me remember for without remembering it how will I obey it.” Helen Keller, the multiple challenged person she was, always said that hearing is the sense that she missed the most. Through hearing we decode the language and the purpose of God in our lives. Sight makes things alluring and tempting. Hence, sight except if it is used to reading good books and content leads to temptation and sin. The sight of a beautiful woman accompanying a great preacher we knew overpowered him and he committed adultery. Sight should therefore, be tempered and moderated by the word of God that we hear and understand. Like proof the pudding is in its eating, if we truly understand anything, we will apply it in our lives. Hence, speakers, communicators, teachers and preachers would do well not to pack their expositions with several impressive points but with a single point that is recalled constantly, understood and applied in the daily lives of the hearers. Then we will not let knowledge get ahead of wisdom and understanding. If we spend time on any content, we should carry from it a precious point that we learnt from it and that we can apply instantly and continually in our lives. Jesus did not judge anything or anyone by what He saw or heard but He judged on the basis of godly wisdom and understanding. We will do well to imitate Him.