September 8, 2024 Daily Dose of Discernment

Jesus took him aside from the crowd and put His fingers into his ears. (Mark 7:33)

Hellenized Jews were Jews influenced by Greek culture. Many of them lived in Decapolis. Jesus had to take the deaf and mute man out of the cacophony of that environment and plug his ears with His fingers. He needed to get him tuned out of the world and in to God. That restored his hearing, and consequently his speech.

Decapolis means ten cities, representing the mission field faithful servants are put in charge of (Luke 19:17, Mark 5:20). If we want to please our Lord, we need to influence our Decapolis with the principles of His kingdom and not let it influence us with its ways. For that to happen, we must use "divine noise-cancelling headphones" to keep the din of the world out in order to exclusively hear His voice. As a result, we will be able to articulately proclaim His gospel.