He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

There were several verses that stood out to me in this morning's reading. These include the above from Luke 8:8. Another is “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him” (verse 18). The context of 8:8 is well known to those who are churched, it is the parable of the sower. The Word is sown into various soils (our various hearts). And the Word sprouts and grows, it withers, or is choked in our hearts, or it produces abundant fruit for the Kingdom (vv. 5-15). In other words, it is our heart response to the Word, that determines what kind of soil we are. And we have likely all been each of the varieties of soils, at various times. I know I have! And all this is related to how we hear.

Hearing and obedience are inextricably linked in Scripture (c.f Hebrews 3:15, 18). Luke 8:18, quoted above indicates that we are not standing still, we are either growing in wisdom and the knowledge of God, or we are moving back. There is no fence! Another of this morning's verses are Deuteronomy 10: 12,13 “What does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD.” What I sense the Lord is asking us this morning is are we willing to engage discipleship, in a long obedience in the same direction. I mean when this crisis has passed, will we continue to walk with Him, or will we go back to our old ways?

I can't seem to get away from the recurring theme of our need to humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from our wicked ways (2 Chronicles 7:14). And what I an sensing the Lord is wanting this morning, is to ask Him if there be any wicked way in our deceitful hearts, to allow Him to use the anxieties of this time to do this, and then to ask Him to lead us in the His eternal ways (Psalm 139:22, 23). And part of what will determine what kind of soil we are is the measure of how we hear. Are we spending time with Him at this time (Psalm 48:10)? Are we binging on Netflix? Are we meditating on His Word (Psalm 1:2), or are we more interested in quantity rather than quality? The one who meditates day and night on His word will be like a tree planed by the waters sending down roots deep into the soil. For such a one when the heat comes again we will not cease from bearing fruit (Jeremiah 17:8). I am not saying it needs to be mine, but when you read a devotional, do you dig deeper, do you look up the Scripture? Actually I have to confess I prefer to get stuff for myself, and this is a major reason I write these posts.

Father, one of the ways You lead us, is to be passionate worshipers of You. This changes us Lord from glory to glory. We need Your help Father, I do, and we are asking You for it this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen