Today’s devotion is from Mark 4:24-25 (NLT)
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 New King James Translation says this…
“Take heed to what you HEAR With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who HEAR, more will be given.”
The values, principles, the truth, or deception that we LISTEN to will multiply in our understanding and in our souls after we have listened to it! This is why the Lord tells us to pay attention, or to TAKE HEED to what we listen to.
When we allow ourselves to continually be exposed to principles, views and values contrary to the WORD, Jesus tells us that those unbiblical values, views and principles will multiply in our minds and understanding like a virus. Of course the same is true when we listen to, study and meditate on the Word… The LIVING Word of God expands, multiplies itself and takes over our thought processes, instills new values, new principles and imparts a WORD view in our minds and our understanding while at the same time erasing the WORLD view.
Jesus is instructing His followers to pay close and deliberate attention to what they are listening to.
Which voices have access to your ears? What television programs or multimedia programs are you exposing yourself to… what, and who are you listing to? Bottom line, what you listen to matters a great deal. As believers we need to shut off some voices and turn on others deliberately and ON PURPOSE.
Jesus said that if we do not open ourselves up and make time to listen to the Word, “even what little understanding we have will be taken away from us.”
Family, it’s not the Lord who takes away our scriptural understanding, it’s the thief, the devil who is out to steal the Word out of our minds. Jesus tells us to continually reinforce the truth of the Word in our minds and our understanding to prevent the truth in us from being stolen by the devil. The devil continually attempts to steal the Word, because without the Word, we are wide open to fall into his traps of deception. If the devil cannot deceive believers, believers will walk in truth and will live a blessed, prosperous life in Christ!