How Well Do You Listen?
Good Morning Friends,
In our busy, noisy culture, it is important that we learn how to quiet down our hearts and get alone with God, so we can hear His “still small voice.” Too often, we feel that we are listening what God is saying to us but we really hear only what we want to hear. We stop growing because we are not paying attention. How Well Do You Listen?
Scripture: Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.”
Luke 8:18 (NRSV)
When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!” Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.’ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. The ones on the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. The ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe only for a while and in a time of testing fall away. As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go on their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. But as for that in the good soil, these are the ones who, when they hear the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance. “No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light.
Luke 8:4-8:17 (NRSV)
Message: Today we read about the parable of the sower, the soil, the seed, and the state of our condition. It is told by Jesus the same day that He was rejected by the religious leaders of Jerusalem and depicts four types of hearers and levels of dignity in our communications. There are those that do not care what is being said. There are those that are superficial hearers only pretending excitement. There are carnal hearers who understand but are still unwilling to change and then there are sincere hearers likened to good soil…those with a noble heart who honestly seek to learn and know the truth and be changed by it. The message is this, if one listens one can see how and why hurt people hurt people and why healed people can be a powerful force in healing others. Here we might just learn that healed people do not have an image to protect. Typically their sin record is public and their pride has been set aside. Here we discover that protecting our image is part of the problem for it causes conflict. Here the seed is the Word of God sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating and dividing the attitudes of the heart. Friends when we share the truth people will respond but not all will be changed in a way so that they can in turn change others.
Pray we listen up. Pray we realize that the good soil reinvests in the next crop. Pray we grow in our listening. Pray we hear and obey. Pray that in our speaking we understand that our words are to lead others. Pray we realize it is time to listen not just for our own satisfaction but as a patient witness that God cares.
Pray that we each nurture the seeds of love and goodness planted in our lives. Pray these seeds are strengthened by the Word so that our faith takes root, thrives and grows strong. Pray that in God’s time, by His grace, and for His glory, we develop deep roots. Pray we hear the message of patience and hope. Pray we rejoice in the promise of the harvest. Pray we bear fruit with seeds for the ongoing sowing of the Word.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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