Day 10: Listening to Understand

This is the second Saturday in the 40 days of Lent. We're reading Mark 4.

When Jesus taught he often used Parables. They were stories that related to everyday life - seed of grain, fields, landowners, debtors, etc. - and he used the stories to teach Kingdom truths.

In chapter 4 of Mark he teaches the parable of a sower. The seed falls on four types of ground, but only one type of ground bears fruit. On the other three types of ground the seed is lost - it fell, but it didn't bear root. We don't have to wonder about the interpretation because Jesus himself interprets the 4 types. One falls on a hardened heart, one on a heart that gives access to Satan, one is so consumed by the world around - it's riches, it's concerns, etc...that the seed simply has no place in that tangle of weeds. Only does it fall and bear root when it lands on a welcoming open heart.

In the parable of the lamp that follows I think Jesus makes the point of what the teachings he gave are all about:

"Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”

The one thing missing from most communication between anyone - government officials, husbands and wives, employer and employee, parent and child - is the ability to get to the place of "understanding". It is one thing to hear the words, it is quite another to understand the heart.

Above all else, we as Christ's followers, ought to be people who seek understanding. The writer of Proverbs said at one point: "Seek wisdom with all of your heart, and with all of your wisdom, seek understanding."

Peace

If you're reading through the Bible in a year todays reading is Joshua 4, 5, 6


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