Are you listening?

One of the greatest words in the Bible is the word 'Hear'.  Think about it. 

When we speak to our children, we want them to 'HEAR' us.  When we speak to our spouse or significant other, we want them to 'HEAR' us.  (and they want us to 'HEAR' them!!)

But sometimes we turn a deaf ear.  Oh, we hear them alright, but we don't let it engage in the mind.  I know that I am very guilty of that.  Confession time.  I hear the words, but because I don't want to listen, or I don't agree, or I am busy and don't want to be interrupted, the words fall on deaf ears.  And although I WANT to hear, I truly do, I don't.

Does that make sense?  Please tell me I am not the only one who does that!!  Unfortunately, I'm sure I am not.  Even more unfortunately, we have turned a deaf ear to the One who loves us and wants the very best for us all the time.

John 15:7 says:  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

For those of us who grew up in church, and occasionally now, we have heard those words before and probably thought to ourselves, 'ok, I hear it.... what it says that whatever I desire, I will get it.'  Right?  No, that isn't what it means.  It means that if we seek Jesus, and read and listen to His Word, then as He abides in us, and we abide in Him, if what we ask is according to His desires, .... ok there I go with MY interpretation.  You need to get your own.  Everyone has an interpretation as to what the Bible says to them.  Many times I go to the 'study guide' just to make sure I am understanding correctly what I think the Word says.  I'm not always right.

We often harden our hearts against the Word.  We hear it, we understand what the meaning is, but we harden our heart because it isn't what we want to hear.  I've done that.  I don't WANT to always be nice.  I have a right to be mean once in a while too, right?  I don't WANT to be submissive to anyone, and I don't HAVE to be, right?  It's ok to be hard-nosed and critical, right?  How many times have people spoken critically of me?  I can retaliate, right?  I can do things my way, after all, I have the choice to live my life the way I want to, right?

In the Bible is a parable about the four different kinds of soil.  You know the story found in Luke 8.  Each soil type represents a condition of the heart, and how we hear.  The seed that is sown is the Word of God.  Notice that the quality of seed is always good; it's the condition of the heart that determines if you HEAR, and the fruitfulness of the Word.

The "wayside soil" represents the 'hard heart'.  Every garden has a pathway through the garden where we walk.  That part of the soil gets trampled down and becomes very hard.  Even though seed gets thrown on it, it cannot penetrate the ground.   Desires and mind-sets can snatch away God's Word from the hardened heart.  We want to do things our way.

The "rocky soil" represents the 'shallow heart'.  That where there is good soil, but just a few inches below this fertile soil is rock, and the roots cannot get past it.  The seed will sprout and spring up quickly and you think your garden is going well, but it soon withers and dies.  That's us who hear the Word and get real excited, but it doesn't take long for us to move on to something more fun.  Unfortunately, when tough times come, there isn't enough root to stand firm.  We give up.

The "thorny soil" represents the 'crowded heart'.  This ground is deceptive in that it is tilled and ready to receive the seed, but buried within this tilled ground are seeds of weeds and thorns - and they grow faster than the seeds that are planted to grow and be fruitful.  Have you discovered this in planting your own garden?  How often do you have to go out and pull those weeds only to discover they are already coming back up in the row that you had just pulled them from?   Thorns and weeds represent the riches and pleasures of life.  Sometimes life is very 'daily'.  We just want to make enough money to pay the bills.  Study hard enough to get past that test.  Work hard enough to maintain our job.  We put so many things before God that He soon is crowded out.

The "good soil" represents the 'fruitful heart'.  As Christians, we are NOT automatically fruitful.  Trust me on this one.  We must be careful as to how we embrace the word of God, and allow it to germinate in our lives.  That's why Jesus, after delivering this parable, warned them, "take heed how you hear".

Sometimes I have a hard heart, and I don't want to listen to anyone.  That's my problem.  And if you also see that you have a hard heart, that is your problem.   We need to work on that hard heart and soften it up.

Jesus is not horrified by your unbelief and hardness of heart.  He knows how hard our hearts are.  But He wants us to see it.  Jesus often made statements to His disciples 'Why do you have so little faith?" but He didn't talk like that to berate them or beat them down.  He wanted them to be awake to the understanding of the true condition of the heart.

So where are you this morning?  Are you listening to what God is saying to you?  Or are you with the hardened heart and want nothing to do with Him? 

When was the last time you told Him 'thank you' when He blessed you with something you desired?  I have found that I need to thank Him constantly (and I do!) cause I desire to get my work done timely and completely and I know it is beyond my power to do it on my own.  If He didn't help me with minutes, and finding times for meetings to schedule, I would be failing at my job. 

And every day I am asking for His help to understand instructions, to complete the tasks that I am given, to quit beating myself up and be brave enough to ask questions to help me understand more.  I'm thinking Microsoft Teams - the 'new thing' in the business world.  I know very few basics, and yet I am expected to know how to navigate through it.  It's a struggle!!

So today, Lord, I want to say 'thank you'.  You have provided many things for me that I haven't stopped to thank you for.  You covered our finances when we needed it.  You stopped things that could have been costly and provided even better than we could have imagined.  You allow our struggles to help us depend more on You.  You give us good things.  You get me through each and every day and through my struggles with work and things at home.  Keep my heart and mind set on Thee, Lord.  Help me to remember You are always with me, and You want only the best for me.  Sometimes I need to take my hands off, and allow You to work in situations, and in me.  Thank You, Lord.

Blessings!