December 13 2024

Friday December 13

“Take Heed How You Hear”

Luke 8:15-18

15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. 16 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. 17 For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. 18 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."

In Luke 8:18 Jesus makes a statement that is repeated five times in three of the Gospels. Today I want us to look at the truth and see how we can apply it to our lives. “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" (v. 18). Three of the times that we read this statement in the Gospels it is connected to the parable of the sower and the seed. (Matthew 13:12; Mark 4:25; Luke 8:18).

The main application of course is that we must make sure that we receive God’s Word with a “noble and good heart”. We should receive God’s Word honestly and respond to it by acknowledging it is the Truth, repenting of our sins, and receiving it into our hearts to obey and live by. Immediately when we receive and obey the Word we hear, the Holy Spirit will open our minds and hearts to understand more of God’s Word. He gives us more light to dispel the darkness in our hearts.

This is where 1 John 1:6-9 becomes a reality to us: “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

But if we chose to reject the Word we hear, our hearts get harder. Paul describes it this way in Ephesians 4:18, “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.”  Proverbs 4:19 says: “But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over.” The further away from God’s Word we get, the darker it becomes, and we literally lose even our good sense! Sounds like what is happening in America today. John also points this out in John 3:19-20; “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

This is why Jesus said in Luke 8:18, “Therefore take heed how you hear”. And in Mark 4:24, Jesus said, “Take heed what you hear”. It is vitally important that we also make sure we quit listening to the lies of the devil and the world that only bring more darkness into our lives. Both what we hear and how we hear and receive it is crucial so that we can receive “more” of His light, or we lose the light that we have! (v. 18)

In two of the Gospels, Matthew 25:28-29 and Luke 19:26, Jesus makes a similar statement: “For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” Both of these statements are connected to His story of the master who gave talents or minas to his servants for a period of time and then came back and required an account of what they had done with them. In Matthew, it says that he gave to each according to his own ability. One received five talents, another two, and another one. The one that had five made five more, and therefore had ten. The one that had two made two more, and therefore had four. But the one who had one, hid it in the ground and did nothing with it.

The master then took his one and gave it the man that now had ten. With that story in mind, Jesus then makes the statement that basically teaches us that if we use and invest His gifts and abilities that He gives us for His kingdom, He will give us more responsibility and increase our impact and influence that we can make in His kingdom work. But if we fail to use what He gives us, we will even lose what we do have. In other words, if we snooze, we will lose!

How does the Lord want you to apply this truth and principle to your life today?

God bless!