Week 8: Listening to Jesus

This week's Bible reading is as follows:

*Sunday: Leviticus 7:28-9:6; Mark 3:31-4:25; Psalm 37:12-29; Proverbs 10:5
*Monday: Leviticus 9:7-10:20; Mark 4:26-5:20; Psalm 37:30-40; Proverbs 10:6-7
*Tuesday: Leviticus 11:1-12:8; Mark 5:21-43; Psalm 38:1-22; Proverbs 10:8-9
*Wednesday: Leviticus 13:1-59; Mark 6:1-29; Psalm 39:1-13; Proverbs 10:10
*Thursday: Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; Proverbs 10:11-12
*Friday: Leviticus 15:1-16:28; Mark 7:1-23; Psalm 40:11-17; Proverbs 10:13-14
*Saturday: Leviticus 16:29-18:30; Mark 7:24-8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; Proverbs 10:15-16

This week's S.O.A.P. comes from Mark 4:

Scripture: Mark 4:24, 25
"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.'"

Observation:
I wanted to pause and reflect on Jesus' explanation of the Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed in Mark 4:14-20 because I saw something that had never occurred to me before. For a long time I have understood the seed that grew amid the thorns to be Christians whose lives were rendered less fruitful because of the cares and worries of the world and the desire to get rich. The New Living Translation, which I am reading this year, brings out the meaning more clearly.

In verse 19 it says that such people produce no fruit. The New International Version uses the less-clear term, "unfruitful." So I had to see what this says in the Greek. The term is, akarpos, which, according to my Greek dictionary, means barren, useless. Yikes! Jesus is not talking about "less fruitful Christians." He's saying that those who make worldly pursuits their priority end up missing the boat entirely.

Another thing struck me as well. Those who are planted in the good soil (i.e., those who hear and accept God's word and produce a harvest) are not all equally fruitful. They all produce fruit, but some people produce more than others, which makes me wonder why that is the case. And that's what led me to focus on Mark 4:24 and 25.

Again, I appreciate the way the NLT renders this passage. Jesus said that it is important to pay attention to his teaching because when we do, our capacity to understand more and more truth will continue to expand. The more we listen, the more understanding we get.

That helps to answer the question above. While some difference in fruitfulness is due to our varying abilities (as we see in the Parable of the Three Servants – Matthew 25:15), some variation may be due to the fact that we don't always listen to Jesus as well as we should.

Application:
I confess that I have experienced seasons of spiritual barrenness in my life...and I can attest that without exception these seasons come because I stop listening to Jesus. I stop reading the Bible. My prayer life is reduced to the perfunctory "grace" before meals. I become, in a word, miserable. I am miserable inside and I am basically miserable to be around. During such times I am still engaged in Christian service because of my profession. But my heart is not in it.

I can also attest that when I read God's word on a daily basis and spend time in prayer, I come alive spiritually. I am able to weather the storms of life with an inner peace that makes no human sense...all I can say is that it is real. Those around me can tell the difference too.

Jesus' words in today's reading reinforce my commitment to keep on keeping on in my daily devotions. I want to produce whatever fruit I'm capable of producing...and so I hereby resolve to keep listening to Jesus in hopes of understanding more and more and more and more....

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for not giving up on me when I turn a deaf ear to you, your Blessed Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank you for the grace and renewal that come into my life when I listen to Jesus. I want to bear all the fruit that you have given me the ability to produce. Please let it be so for Jesus' sake. Amen!

Have a blessed week!

Faithfully,
Chuck