He who has ears to hear, let him hear

Daily Reading & Meditation
Saturday (9/17): "He who has ears to hear, let him hear"
Scripture: Luke 8:4-15

4 And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to
him, he said in a parable: 5 "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he
sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of
the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it
withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and
the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew,
and yielded a hundredfold." As he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to
hear, let him hear." 9 And when his disciples asked him what this parable
meant, 10 he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom
of God; but for others they are in parables, so that seeing they may not see,
and hearing they may not understand. 11 Now the parable is this: The seed is
the word of God. 12 The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the
devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, that they may not
believe and be saved. 13 And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear
the word, receive it with joy; but these have no root, they believe for a while
and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And as for what fell among the thorns,
they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the
cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

Meditation: How good are you at listening, especially for the word of God? God
is ever ready to speak to each of us and to give us understanding of his word.
Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of his word. There are
different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of
fruit accordingly. There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a
person is unteachable and blind to the things of God. Then there is the shallow
hearer who fails to think things out or think them through; such a person lacks
spiritual depth. They may initially respond with an emotional fervor; but when
it wears off their mind wanders to something else. Another type of hearer is
the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear
or comprehend what is truly important. Such a person is for ever too busy to
pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God's word. He or she may
work so hard that they are too tired to even think of anything else but their
work. Then there is the one whose mind is open. Such a person is at all times
willing to listen and to learn. He or she is never too proud or too busy to
learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those who
hunger for his word that they may understand his will and have the strength to
live according to it. Do you hunger for God's word?

"Lord, faith in your word is the way to wisdom, and to ponder your divine plan
is to grow in the truth. Open my eyes to your deeds, and my ears to the sound
of your call, that I may understand your will for my life and live according to
it."

Psalm 100

1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!
3 Know that the LORD is God! It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his
people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks
to him, bless his name!
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures for ever, and his
faithfulness to all generations.

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(c) 2005 Don Schwager

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