There is a reason that various household warnings not only display a particular color but also make noise. Obviously, one reason is that not all warning lights cannot be seen and/or continuously observed. While focused on the road, a car’s warning lights — i.e., gas, tire pressure, overheating, oil pressure — can be missed. It often takes a sound to call it to our attention.

Our ears only need to be reasonably near to hear a sound, and our ears are on the job 24/7/365. They are processing sounds when we are awake and even throughout the night.

When we sleep, our sense of smell has fallen asleep as well. However, our ears stay awake, listening for sounds! They are listening for possible threats even when our eyes are closed to the world around us. While sleeping, our brains partner with our ears to determine the most important sounds. We can be dead asleep, but the slightest sound will cause our brain to report that something is awry!

Sometimes, a slight beeping sound in the middle of the night causes me to get up and find out what is making that sound! The beep of a smoke detector has chosen to alert me to a low battery condition at two in the morning! Or at midnight, the house alarm system continuously alerts me of a malfunction, and it needs to be reset. Neither audible beep will go away without me taking action! My options?  Get up and reset the alarm.  Or worse yet, get the ladder from the garage and replace the smoke detector’s battery so I can get back to sleep.

The unremitting work of our auditory guardian is why many towns have limitations on when businesses can begin working in a residential neighborhood. It is why car manufacturers attach sounds to various warning sensors, emergency vehicles use weird and raspy sirens, and “the emergency broadcasting system” includes a freaky tone to their testing alerts.

Nevertheless, there are times when we do not hear when and what we ought to hear. While there is no unremitting beep, persistent high-pitched sound, or annoying raspy noise attached to the warning, the alert is just as real and needed.

The far more quiet warning sounds are attached to . . . .

• the kind words of a friend,
• the advice of a concerned co-worker,
• the cautions of a loving spouse or family member,
• the words of an author who doesn’t even know you,
• a pastor’s sermon, or
• the words of the Bible.

There are no beeps or persistent and annoying alerts, but the warning sounds are there for our ears to hear — if we have ears to hear.

The word “hear” occurs over 500 times in 48 books of the Bible.
The word “listen” occurs over 100 times in 28 books of the Bible.

 As the Bible repeatedly states, it is possible to have ears that do not heed the numerous warning sounds accompanying God’s truths. The Lord himself spoke to His own disciples about that reality — “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Luke 8:8, 14:35).

The words “hear” and “listen” are the Bible’s beeps, alerts, and accompanying sounds of heavenly warning. One of the most well-known, and used hundreds of times in the Old Testament, is the word “SHAMA” — (שָׁמַע) — “Hear O Israel.”

Imagine a version of the Bible that beeped when somebody read a warning. Or an alert that was persistent until the reader took some decisive action. Or a raspy noise sounded when someone read one of the most serious warnings of Scripture.

By the way, that version is available! Except the warning sounds are the sounds of the Holy Spirit of God, and the reader can hear the alerts in the heart.

When living contrary to the truths and principles of the Bible, the Holy Spirit is not a quiet resident of the heart. “Bells and whistles” go off in the soul, even at two in the morning, that alert us to make the changes we ought to and need to make.

While the sounds can be quieted and even suppressed, they are persistent. When we fail to heed the Spirit’s warnings, another audio alert system is in place called “life and living alerts.” While our spiritual ears may “fall asleep,” He never does!

Our spiritual ears may “fall asleep” when we hear what we may not want to hear. While our ears are still on duty, nothing spoken has been ruled worthy of serious concern or our attention. It is also possible to be distracted by the sounds of our desires, the voices of others, and/or the demands of life. However, these “life and living alerts” have the ability to recapture our attention.

These “life and living alerts” are designed to capture our attention in some very practical and tangible ways. You can read about them throughout the Bible. A staggering example is seen in the life of Samson (Judges 13-16). It’s worth the read!

Let me close with these words . . . .

“For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord.”
I Corinthians 11

 We either heed the warning sounds of the Spirit of God in our hearts and minds, or we force the Lord to recapture our attention through His “life and living alert” program. Ask Samson!