Immersing ourselves in the superficial and passing things of this world has a way of coarsening the human spirit and rendering us spiritually deaf and thus incapable of hearing God’s voice. This is epitomized in Amos’ description of those who ask: When will the new moon be over, that we may sell our grain, and the Sabbath, that we may display the wheat? Accordingly, the famine in which these people will hunger and thirst for hearing the word of the Lord, is not a punishment imposed by the Lord, but one incurred by their coarsened hearts and spiritual deafness. And so they no longer have the spiritual capacity to satisfy the thirst and hunger of their souls—even though God’s word has not grown silent. Like that seed falling on the pathway that is quickly eaten by the birds, these people hunger and thirst in the midst of plenty. The good news is that Jesus does not give up on those in this condition. Passing by Matthew, totally immersed in the passing things of this world, he breaks through his hardened heart and calls him back to life. Inspired by his conversion let us keep guard over our own hearts lest they too become coarsened, absorbed in the passing things of this world, and no longer capable of hearing his voice calling out to us at every moment.