Growing up in church, I often heard preachers talk about “the line of demarcation”, but I wasn’t sure exactly what they meant. I pictured in my mind a literal line that divided saved people from lost, and that stepping over from the saved side to the lost, would be tantamount to falling off of a steep cliff into terrifying danger or even death. Such sermons about this perilous line kept me repenting about anything and everything. I did not want to cross that line!
I realize now that there is a gradual movement in the direction of worldly pursuits and fleshly lusts before one actually crosses over into a backslidden state. Adding to this peril, is the unawareness of how close one is coming to that separation line, as we can see with Sampson. Each time he lay in Delilah’s lap, he became weaker, but he was unaware of his waning strength until it was gone. Until he was over the line.
It is no blessing the thing that draws my heart away from my passionate pursuit of God’s presence, or that dulls my ear to His voice, or the keen edge of my spiritual receptivity. Staying in the spiritual zone where communication with God is unhindered by carnal distractions and fleshly appetites will keep me far from the line of demarcation.
One thing is certain: God is always speaking. He is always transmitting, but we are not always receiving. When we get out of the spiritual zone where the signal of the Holy Spirit is strong, we can lose contact. Today very few people use land phones in their homes. Instead they use cell phones. The problem is, you can lose your cell phone signal if you move too far away from the coverage area. My son lives in West Virginia and cell phone coverage is often spotty and frustrating. In some remote areas that are too far from the tower, all signals cease. There have been times when he has called me and our conversation was interrupted over and over because of a drop in coverage. A few times we just gave up.
Likewise, when we get out in worldly, carnal areas, we can lose spiritual signals from the Holy Spirit. Signals can also be blocked in some buildings, and you have to move from one room to another or even go outside to pick up the signal. When this happens in the spiritual realm, we must continue to move in prayer until the signal is restored.
We know that one of the conditions that preceded Israel’s spiritual demise was that they had become “dull of hearing”, and Jesus said of them: “This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing”(Matthew 13:15). When Apostle Paul came up against opposition from those who had become carnal and no longer could digest the strong meat of the Word, he said, “…We have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11).
About a year ago I noticed that my physical hearing was becoming dull. I kept turning up the volume on the television, to the point that my husband complained about the loudness. I strained to hear normal conversation, especially if there was a lot of background noise. I finally decided to have a hearing test which showed a decrease in my hearing. I went to an ENT doctor for a complete examination. The problem seemed to be that I had a large amount of hardened earwax. He tried to remove it, but it was as hard as a rock. I had to lie down and put drops in my ears daily to soften the wax, and then return in a week. This time he was able to clear one ear, but the other was still blocked. Again, I had to continue to use ear drops in that ear and return a few days later. He suctioned my ears until I thought my neck would snap. When he turned off the machine, everything was so loud, I jumped at the sound of his voice.
Suddenly I was aware of sounds I had not heard in a long while. I was amazed at how crisp everything sounded. Little things, like turning on the faucet to wash my hands, sounded like rushing water. Pulling a Kleenex out of the box crackled to my ears. And when I got home and turned on my TV, it almost blasted me out of my shoes! I had gradually been increasing the volume until it was set it in the 40’s. I had to hurriedly turn it down to the 20’s to ease my ears! I had become used to not hearing clearly, and I didn’t realize it. Now I could hear everything loud and clear!
Keeping our ears sensitized to hear the Word of the Lord is paramount. Anything that blocks the signal is detrimental to our spiritual well-being and cannot be tolerated. When we sense that our spiritual hearing has become dull, which is often manifested by a spirit of complacency, we need to lie before the Lord and allow the oil of the anointing to soften the hardness developing in our spirits. It is not incidental that God often reprimanded His people for having uncircumcised ears: “To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken…” (Jer. 6:10). God is still speaking to us: “Can you hear Me now?”
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