Tuesday, September 29, 2009

How do you think?

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Luke 8:18
Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him
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This is what Jesus said as he was summing up His parable of the seed and the sower.
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The seed is the Word of God. We read the Word and we listen with our heart and mind. We hear the Word preached and we listen with our ears, heart and mind. And we study the Word. Again, we listen with our eyes, heart and mind. We all know the story: 1) some seed landed on the path but was stolen away. (Did they really listen with their heart or were they just using their ears and mind?) 2) some fell on the rocks but because of no water they withered. (Did they listen with heart heart or just their ears and mind? 3) Some fell in good soil but thorns grew up and choked them. These are hearers (listeners) who were carried away with life's worries and pleasures—politics, wars, jobs, bills, sports. They might have listened with their heart at first, but allowed worries and pleasures to crowd out what they had heard. I have read this parable many times and thought, "well, the seed certainly can't grow in rocks or in the midst of thorns (they are so pesky!)" Maybe the thorns grew or the seed was stolen because of how we listen. Jesus said, "consider—carefully—how you listen." Do you listen with your heart or just your ears, eyes and mind?
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Jesus, I want to listen with my heart. I want Your Word to grow a crop of love, grace, kindness, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness and faithfulness in my life. And when I'm not listening with my heart, would you remind me?

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