‘The Hard Truth About Hearing’
Taken from the Heart Light Bible app

[Jesus continued,] “To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”
Mark 4:25 NLT

KEY THOUGHT
Jesus wants us to know that as we apply ourselves to listening to him, he is still active in communication. He will help us understand more! But, we must be open to his teaching. We must be willing to listen, hear, and apply his message to our lives. But if we are sloppy, disinterested, or hard-hearted toward the message of Jesus, what little we understand will be stripped away from us. There is an urgency to our hearing the Master. Two raindrops can land inches apart on either side of the Western Continental Divide in the U.S., and one will ultimately end up in the Pacific Ocean and the other in the Atlantic Ocean. Listeners to Jesus’ message can also end up oceans apart based upon their desires to be open to his teaching. We have a tremendous responsibility and opportunity to listen to Jesus! Our commitment to doing so greatly determines the ultimate destination of our lives.

TODAY’S PRAYER
O Father God, LORD of heaven and earth, help me hear. Even more, dear Father, create in me a hunger for hearing the truth of Jesus. Open my heart to your Son’s message. Strip from me the barriers that would keep me from being attentive. I want my life to be shaped by the words of your Son. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

RELATED SCRIPTURE READINGS

Matthew 10:14–15 (NIV): 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. 15 Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Matthew 11:15 (NIV): 15 Whoever has ears, let them hear.

Matthew 12:42 (NIV): 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.