3rd January
MORNING CONTEMPLATION
TOPIC: ITCHING EARS
TEXT: 2 TIM. 4:3
''For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;/And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.''
It is a soul-murdering, soul-sinking, soul-strangling and soul-raping disposition for a man to desire what he wants instead of what he needs to hear: for the pew to dictate to the pulpit what to preach, is injurious to the souls of men. Preachers are soul's physicians; man does not know that he is sick in the soul--he does not have a clue of that, not to talk of the antidote to his soul's malady; the preacher, as a doctotr, in order to cure the soul's  disease, must administer drugs that is oppose to the flesh. However, the carnal nature insists on preachers to tickle his fancies instead of pricking his conscience to wake it up unto repentance.  So  the word "itching” in our text  literally means "to itch, rub, scratch, or tickle.” To want one’s ears "tickled” is to desire massages rather than messages””sermons that charm rather than challenge, entertain rather than edify, and please rather than preach. These men would have their ears to be continually titillated with novelties, and what their hearts long and pant after; these would heap up teachers that only preach to please them: such teachers are not God's workmen, that rightly and soundly preach the word of God, but are apostles of  men's lusts, they are hirelings. The time is already here, when men cannot endure, welcome, cherish and celebrate sound teachings and thought-provoking sermons; the time is now come when sermons are prepared by the lusts of men; behold, itching ears are eagerly waiting to be tickled and scratched by hired teachers, who minds men's praise than God's; men's purses than the pulses and heart-beat of God! No self-deluding generation like the present one, making her lusts the sole counselor; demanding preachers to allow her lusts to be the makers and penmen of any sermon that will proceed from the pulpit. The larger populace of believers are not hearing what she needs to hear but what she wants to hear: she would hear about blessings, cars, miracles, wealth and health: but not holiness, the cross, mission, consecration and righteousness. This generation would be miloniares but not missionaries. What a heap of teachers and pastors there are, but only preaching after the lust of men! Brothers and friends, would you not rather be wounded here and break into heaven, that tickled here but tortured on the last day? Be objective about the matter of your soul.Â
Prayer: Lord, be merciful to thy church!
Amen!