Are You Teachable?

By Will Davis, Jr.

To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!”
And they threw him out. John 9:34

How teachable are you? Do you allow the Lord to instruct you through even the most humble of messengers?

Balaam was instructed by a donkey. King David was rebuked by a common citizen. Job said that he was taught by the animal world. What about you? Is your heart soft enough to be able to learn from such unlikely sources?

These leaders John mentions in this verse were not teachable. They saw no value in this blind man. He had nothing to offer them. Not only was he an irrelevant citizen, but he was also a spiritual misfit. They knew that such an outcast could certainly never offer them any spiritual insight, and so they rejected him.

But Jesus didn’t. Jesus saw past the man’s handicaps and saw into his soul. He knew that he was infinitely valuable to God. So Jesus healed him and gave him a world of new vision–both spiritual and physical.

When this blind man decided to push back against the narrow-mindedness of these religious leaders, they were too arrogant to hear him. Their pride in their great learning and religious performance made their hearts cold toward such a lowly messenger. He didn’t stand a chance. They simply refused to listen to someone without a spiritual pedigree.

But the blind man was in good company: they didn’t listen to Jesus either.

Are you teachable? Are you able to discern the voice of God in even the lowliest of voice boxes? God rarely speaks to you in golden tablets from Heaven. He doesn’t always require his messengers to be professional, polished or well known.

God may choose to speak through a child, a neighbor, an enemy, a spouse, an article, a parent or grandparent, a circumstance, or even a blind man. And he will do so to both honor the messenger and humble you. So listen up. He’s probably speaking to you right now.