Seeing and Hearing

“And he said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:9. Jesus spoke in a parable about the word of God and the type of heart that it comes in contact with. In this parable, Jesus describes all conditions of the human heart, from the callused, thorny, and rocky heart to the open and fruitful heart. Jesus desires all people to be open to the truth found in the Bible. Only then can the heart bring forth the type of fruit that Jesus wants.

Jesus said in John 7:17 “If anyone desires to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.” It is up to the individual hearing the word of God to either obey or reject it. Jesus claims that any person who truly desires to know God’s will will understand and see whether or not the teachings come from God. Some passages of scripture are hard to understand, and some topics are confusing (2 Peter 3.16). But this is no reason to close our eyes and ears to the truth, as those in Jesus’ day did, Matthew 13:14 “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” It was not impossible for these people to see and hear, but rather that they had chosen not to. Jesus says of his disciples in verse 16 “But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.” God wants us to understand, as Paul commands in Ephesians 5:17 “Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” God instructs us to understand, see, and hear, implying that we must put forth the proper effort.

A good illustration of this is found in Acts 17:11 “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” These people examined every word the Apostle Paul was teaching to make sure that they were hearing the truth. They had no desire just accept Paul’s word as truth, they investigated! They searched! They were nobler because of this.

So how do we obey God’s instruction to see, hear, and understand? Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that has no need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” We must study the bible and search the scriptures to see if the things we are hearing truly are the will of God. As people desiring to please our Heavenly Father, we should decide to obey every command God has given to us and only those commands God has given us. We do not need the commands of men in order to see, hear, and understand God’s instructions. The prophet Agur stated in Proverbs 30:5-6 “Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.”