Listen!
Do you ever really LISTEN to what you are being told?
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“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Luke 8:8 ESV
“Come here!” Mom said. “I want to check your ears.”
“Why Mom?” The boy replied, “I can hear just fine.”
“Can you?” Asked Mom “What did I just ask you to do?” “I want to check to make sure you have your ‘Listening Ears On.”
Do you remember those conversations? Instead of with mom maybe it was with your wife or your husband.
Or even more importantly with our Father in Heaven?
Remember the first commandment? How does it go?
‘“You shall have no other gods before me. ‘ Deuteronomy 5:7
I don’t know about you but I have plenty of other noises in my head and around me to keep me distracted. Maybe it is just the radio playing in the background? Or maybe as I am studying and preparing my weekly meditation; the telephone rings with an important message about my car warranty or an exclusive opportunity to take a cruise around the world.
And. . .
Along with all the outside noises, I have all those noises of my own thoughts. Like, I wonder what would happen if I tried to dictate this weeks meditation? Or Why didn’t Luke record that Jesus yelled Listen to the crowd before He told the parable, like Mark did? Or will Tammy remember to wash my favorite slacks for the weekend? Or is it true that as humans we have 6,200 thoughts per day?
So we have lots and lots and lots of distractions keeping us from hearing the Word of God.
But thankfully, Jesus takes the time to tell us what His parable means for those who have their “listening ears on.”
Jesus used the parable of the sower to help us remember that we need to prepare not only our ears but our hearts and our minds to receive His word and to apply it to our lives.
I am confident that this doesn’t ever happen to you. But I struggle constantly to stay focused on what God wants me to hear and what He wants me to do.
Lot’s of times I find myself as the path. God sends His Word of grace and forgiveness to me but my ears and…
