Mark 4:24-25 (NIV): “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you–and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
This saying of Jesus continues to tie in to the parable of the soils. There were many in the crowds that surrounded Jesus who just let His words bounce off their hardened, packed-down hearts. They would not ponder or consider carefully what they had heard. If His words did not make immediate sense to them, they rejected them out of hand. That was the reason that Jesus’ words so often divided the people. A good example of this is when Jesus told the crowd: “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me–just as the Father knows me and I know the Father–and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life–only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” (John 10:14-18 NIV) At this, the crowd responded in two diametrically opposed ways. Those who were hard-hearted and refused to carefully consider Jesus’ words responded negatively: “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” (John 10:20 NIV) But those who pondered Jesus’ words, those for whom the light was starting to show, responded differently: “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10:21 NIV)
This is the way it is today, not only with Jesus’ words, but with all Scripture. To the hard-hearted, the words of the Bible seem senseless, even contradictory, and they won’t seek God and His wisdom to help them understand. Instead, they use themselves as the measure of truth and wisdom, and so reject God’s word out of hand. These not only miss out on the treasure that lies beneath the surface of what they read and hear, they also lose the truth that they may have already possessed, because they are cutting the foundation out from under it by not seeking God in His word. Those who read or hear God’s words with soft, pliable, open hearts, who consider carefully what is before them, pondering and meditating things that may be hard to understand at first, who consider God to be the measure of all truth and wisdom, will receive a great treasure. All of His mysteries will lay open before them. They will receive the wisdom and knowledge that they are seeking, and even more besides. More than they ever imagined!
Father, help me to read and listen to Your words with a soft, pliable, open heart. Help me to know that You are the only source of true wisdom, and so seek Your face so that I can truly hear Your voice and know Your will. Amen.