"Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink."

These words come from the lips of a sailor surrounded by salt water, unfit to drink, in a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The same sentiment is described by country singer, Kathy Mattea: "Standing knee deep in a river, dying of thirst."

These thoughts could apply to many areas of life. But I want you to consider this one: We are surrounded by words.

Whether they are words on the page of a book, words on the computer screen, or words on our phones and other hand-held devices, the fact is that words are everywhere.

And yet there is so little true communication taking place. Someone types 140 characters and tweets it for everyone to read. But there are no facial expressions, no tonal differences. We leave ourselves open to miscommunication.

And then there are those times someone sits at the table surrounded by family and friends, but their full attention is on the screen in their hands. We’re not listening to each other.

And that’s even true when we carry on face-to-face conversations. Often we speak at each other rather than with each other.

Words really are important. The very thought is so important that in the book of John, Jesus himself is called, "the Word."

God has chosen to communicate with us. He has chosen to reveal himself to us. The entire story of the Bible is that of God making himself known to us.

There is a good reason we have two ears and one mouth. We need to work at listening to others. But even more, we need to listen for the Lord to speak.

He is not silent. We’re not listening.

I pray that you will hear the Lord’s voice as he speaks to you this year.