Luke chapter 8 verse 18 (NIV)
Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”
The first sentence of this verse really got my attention today. I don’t recall noticing it before. Consider carefully how you listen. Got me thinking. Often I have music on, or the TV on in the background whilst I’m doing something else. That usually means I’m not giving it my full attention. I have the potential therefore to miss important information, or maybe misunderstand what I have heard.
The same is true when we are being taught God’s word. It deserves our full undivided attention. That way it is able to speak deeply to our hearts and begin to change us. Anything other than undivided attention means we have only allowed it to skirt the surface of our lives. We may rejoice in what we have heard initially, but have we taken on board what was said? It’s not enough to rejoice in a “good word.” We have to let it change us. We do that by being careful how we listen, and more importantly how we respond.
Dear Lord,
Help me to have the same attitude as Mary who sat at the feet of Your Son and listened so intently, to the exclusion of everything else. Martha was told that her sister had chosen the better way. May I do the same. I pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen.