Ears to Hear

Twelve times in the New Testament, Jesus says something like "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."  It's pretty obvious that God wants us to hear His message, and take it into our everyday living.

In Luke 8:4-8, Jesus says:

4While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: 5“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. 6Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.”

When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

In the verses that follow, Jesus explains his parable.  The seed is the word of God, and the different kinds of soil are different kinds of people who receive or don't receive it.  When you share God's truth with others, they aren't always going to receive what you have to say.  Learning to walk in God's peace and patience (Fruit of the Holy Spirit) means accepting the fact that not everybody is going to listen to you all the time.  If you have truth to share, then by all means share it.  But don't get ruffled when folks don't listen.  They didn't always listen to Jesus, either.  Have patience, and wait for God's timing, and see what grows from the seeds you plant.

"If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient.  It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear."

--Pooh's Little Instruction Book