Luke 8:18, “Take heed therefore how you hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.”KJV
A teenager asked his father to solve a problem. He said, “There were three mosquitoes sitting on a person’s arm. One mosquito decided to bite the person. How many had not bitten the person’s arm?”
The dad answered, “Two”! The teenager exclaimed, “You’re wrong! There were still three mosquitoes that had not bitten the person’s arm.” The father remain sure his answer was correct. The teenager said, “The one mosquito had only decided to bite the person’s arm, but he didn’t actually bite it.”
Take heed how you hear! Before you take action to another persons remarks. Find
out just exactly what they have said. Understand what they meant by what they
have said. Be careful how you listen?
I am often considered to be guilty of not listening to what someone is saying to me. I have the characteristic of a lost person that does not give their attention
completely to something that they are hearing. I cannot explain it, but at times I hear but I don’t hear. I’m listening but not listening.
This passage today in Luke 8:18 is written to me and I believe it also applies to you. One evening a neighbor stop by in front of my house and wanted to talk. I was tired, grumpy, and exhausted after a long day, and I did not want to hear some one’s else’s problems. But I listened. Before I knew it, an hour had passed. I did not say much in that hour. I made a few statements and points yet I did not listen to my neighbor attentively.
That is the same way we can be found not listening to God, if we are not careful. We could be listening but not listening. Hearing but not hearing. Luke 8, tells us to be careful how we are listening. The person that hears and understands what they have heard will be given more.
Why? Because they are obeying and responding to what they understand and hear
at the time. Therefore God says they will be given more. But the person that does not obey or respond to what they have heard will have what he does understand
taken away from them.
Are you obeying God in what He has told you? God says those that respond by obeying are the ones that understand what they hear. Those that do not respond with obedience have not heard what God has said. Therefore those that have not heard will have what they have understood taken away.
The bible says, “the wages of Sin is death…”, Romans 6:23. Praise God for those that hear, believe, and recieve the free gift of God through Jesus Christ our lord. Sin has a high price called death.
A pastor was trying to cheer up his gloomy congregation. “In these days of escalating inflation isn’t it good to know that the wages of Sin remain just the same?”
So pay attention to how you listen to God. Everyone who has heard something from
God will be given more from God. People who have heard nothing will lose what
little they think they have. Be sure you will not draw God’s pay check for Sin. It is eternal death.
Not listening can be like great-Aunt Lucy who was losing her hearing. A specialist
suggested an operation to improve her hearing. But she promptly stopped the idea, saying: “I’m ninety- four years old, and I’ve heard enough.” Don’t be like Aunt Lucy and tell God you’ve heard enough. Listen with your ear and your heart. Be attentive to what God says.
Hearing and listening falls into a time factor of future, present, and past. What you will hear(Future)? What you are hearing(Present)? What you have heard (Past)?
God looks immediately after you have heard what He has said to see if you will
respond with action. He is waiting to see if you will apply the A,B,C,&D’s to hearing His Word.
Phillippians 4:9, “Those things which you have learned, and received, and heard, seen in me do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”
- Attentive to what God says.(learn)
- Believe what God says.(recieve)
- Comply to what God said.(heard)
- Do what God said.(do)
God says listen seven times in Revelations. Revelations 2:7, 11,17,29; :6,13,22, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says….”
Are you listening to God (Holy Spirit)? Do you have spiritual ears to hear what the holy Spirit is saying to you? If you don’t desire listening to God then perhaps you don’t belong to Him. Maybe you are still deep in your Sin?
If you have not received Christ’s work on the cross for your Sin, then perhaps you’re not redeemed yet. Ask God to open your eyes to your sinfulness and accept
His only provision through Christ’s death, burial, and ressurrection.
Once you have trusted Christ for your Sin, then listen for God to guide you for obedience. Listen to God through His Word be Attentive, to Believe, to Comply,
and to Do what God has said.
Remember if you don’t listen and take action to do what you have heard then you will lose what little understanding and blessing you do have. When God speaks
if you don’t use it, you lose it. Take heed how you hear!