Careful Listening

Careful Listening

Read: Luke 8:4-18

“Consider carefully how you listen.”

Luke 8:18

“All true knowledge of God is born out of obedience.”

—John Calvin

IN WORD Many times, we think that by hearing the Word of God and understanding its meaning, we have integrated it into our lives. We read numerous Bible passages and listen to countless sermons, thinking that if we have intellectually comprehended the message and agreed with it, it is ours. But Jesus’ parable of the soils says there is more to the story than hearing and believing His Word. Some hear and believe and then fall away in times of testing. Others hear and believe and then do not mature because of life’s worries. Hearing and believing are not enough.

Those who bear fruit for God and fulfill His purpose for their lives are those who first hear the Word, then believe it, then retain it, and then persevere in it (v. 15). They let it sink into their hearts. They meditate on it. They build their lives around it. It becomes a part of them, and they abide by it because it has reshaped them. It defines their identity—and their behavior.

IN DEED Recent surveys and demographic studies have indicated that Christians and non-Christians in the United States have remarkably similar behavior patterns. Why? Because many of us stop at hearing and believing. We are not careful about how we listen. We are like those of whom James speaks: “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (James 1:23-24). This is a type of self-deceit (1:22). It gives us the impression that we are growing in the Word, but we are growing in knowledge only. Real growth comes from real application—diligence in integrating the Word into our hearts and then living it. Careful listening brings radical change and lasting fruit.

God’s purpose for His Word is that it be unhindered by testing, worries, riches, and pleasures. It is to be a seed that lands on our fertile soil, takes deep root, and grows steadily. Be careful. Listen in a way that will fulfill His purpose.