If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.
Mark 4: 23 (KJV)
Scripture: Mark 4: 3-9
Topic: Dependence
There are times we hear but do not listen. Other times, we may not understand what we are hearing. This devotion discusses how we need to hear, listen, and understand when God is talking with us.
Cliff Notes
- Believers are called not only to hear and listen, but to also understand.
- It is hard to do that if there are distractions in today’s society and if we struggle with what is being told to us.
- We must choose to listen to God when He talks to us.
I used to think Mark 4: 23 contained a silly statement. Of course, people have ears, unless they have some defect or were in some accident. So, unless they are deaf, they are going to hear.
But how many times do we miss something that is said to us? We either just aren’t paying attention or else we don’t understand what the speaker has said.
“If you have ears, listen!” (Mark 4: 23 LB). There is a big difference between hearing and listening.
Hearing v. Listening
Hearing is like having the words wash over us like water at the beach. It stays on the outside of us — unless we open our mouths (minds) and swallow it. Bringing it in is listening.
But hearing and listening aren’t enough. Look at Matthew 14: 10: “… Hear, and understand” (KJV). We can hear the words said and actively listen; but we have to think about it, assimilate it, and make it part of us. Finally, we have to act on it.
There may be another explanation why Jesus said this statement. Matthew 13: 3-9, Mark 4: 3-9, and Luke 8: 5-6 are all the Parable of the Sower. That is a parable describing believing and why some people accept salvation, and some don’t. It was real important that the disciples understood what Jesus was saying. So, He said, “Don’t miss it.”
When We Feel Some Kind of Opposition
There are times we quit listening when we feel people are opposing us. Either they are questioning us in some way or accusing us of something. Then again, they may be just trying to change status quo.
Jesus talked about John the Baptist in Matthew 11: 7-15. He questioned people’s motives for going out to see Johnny. Most people don’t like it when their motives are questioned, so they stop listening at the threatening part.
Mark 4: 21-23 is the hide-the-candle-under-the-bushel story. Most people would be indignant to have someone accuse them of doing something stupid like that. Close the ears.
But we do that, don’t we? We hide our true selves under a facade of what we want others to think of us. Ouch.
The hard one to sit and listen to is Mark 7: 14-16. We’ve been told since way back what to do and what not to do. The Israelites were long knew what was clean and what was unclean. Now we’re saying it isn’t so! Like pork, touching dead bodies and stuff like that? You mean being defiled comes from who we are, not the world around us? Don’t get personal now.
Even after Jesus ascended to heaven, he’s talking in the “come on, guys, listen” routine. That’s how He starts out the letters to the churches in Revelation (2: 7). He wanted those churches to stand up and take note.
What Does This Mean?
Ooo, baby. Don’t we stop listening sometimes? We hear the Bible stories, but we don’t listen to them. Or we listen to them, but if it is Paul writing, we don’t always understand them. But let’s look at it this way.
Sometimes, we need that prompting, too. “Hey, Chick. You are all caught up in what is happening in this world. Something important is fixing to happen. You are going to miss me working in your life if you don’t pay special attention.”
We are at different points in our journey with Christ. We have differing commitment levels – that can change constantly.
Jesus was calling us to keep the focus on Him. He wants us to grow in our faith. He was us to work our soil until we are fertile soil on which His Word can fall.
Counterculture to the Worldview
Christianity is counterculture to the view of this world. If what Christ was talking about was radically different than the norm, just a quick listen wasn’t going to cut it.
It takes more than a quick listen for us to learn the hard things. It is going to be like when I had an overview of Chemistry. I was listening (I really was). For the life of me, I just could not understand it.
When something is so foreign to us, it may take a while before the light bulb clicks on and we understand it. It may be because it is so far out of our experiences, we have little to link it to in order to facilitate the understanding.
On the other hand, we may be — consciously or self-consciously — balking. Let’s face it. God can call us to do a lot of things that are out of our comfort zones. Okay, He will take us out of our comfort zones.
How Do We Apply This?
When we hear God telling us to listen, we need to actively listen to Him. We need to turn away from the distractions and focus solely on Him and His Word.
There are things we can do to strengthen our relationship with Him. We can read His Word more and truly study it. We can pray, seeking His guidance.
We can find a fellowship of like-minded believers. Maybe one can act as either a mentor or an accountability partner.
Sometimes, we need to get away from the distractions. My retreat was exactly what I needed at the time. We can get away to plan, to read books to increase our skills and knowledge for God to use, and to restore our soul.
It is paramount that, when God is talking to us, we hear, listen, and understand. We don’t want to miss what He is calling us to do. We need to hear any corrections that He has for us.
We need to understand the plans God has for our lives. Then we have to follow through and do what He is asking of us.
Gracious Heavenly Father. We don’t hear You sometimes. We like our independence and don’t want Your guiding Hand. We don’t listen. There are times when You tell us things we don’t want to hear. Challenge us to change things we don’t want to change and accept responsibility for our actions when we would rather blame it on external forces or someone else. Help us, Lord, to hear, to listen, and to understand. Most of all, help us to obey. Amen.
What do you think? Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
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