LISTEN. THINK. ACT!

Luke 8:4-15

One day he gave this illustration to a large crowd that was gathering to hear him—while many others were still on the way, coming from other towns.

“A farmer went out to his field to sow grain. As he scattered the seed on the ground, some of it fell on a footpath and was trampled on; and the birds came and ate it as it lay exposed. Other seed fell on shallow soil with rock beneath. This seed began to grow, but soon withered and died for lack of moisture. Other seed landed in thistle patches, and the young grain stalks were soon choked out. Still other fell on fertile soil; this seed grew and produced a crop one hundred times as large as he had planted.” (As he was giving this illustration he said, “If anyone has listening ears, use them now!”)

His apostles asked him what the story meant.

He replied, “God has granted you to know the meaning of these parables, for they tell a great deal about the Kingdom of God. But these crowds hear the words and do not understand, just as the ancient prophets predicted.

“This is its meaning: The seed is God’s message to men. The hard path where some seed fell represents the hard hearts of those who hear the words of God, but then the devil comes and steals the words away and prevents people from believing and being saved. The stony ground represents those who enjoy listening to sermons, but somehow the message never really gets through to them and doesn’t take root and grow. They know the message is true, and sort of believe for a while; but when the hot winds of persecution blow, they lose interest. The seed among the thorns represents those who listen and believe God’s words but whose faith afterwards is choked out by worry and riches and the responsibilities and pleasures of life. And so they are never able to help anyone else to believe the Good News.

“But the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people. They listen to God’s words and cling to them and steadily spread them to others who also soon believe.”

Food for thought!

This parable reminds us that the fate of the word of God depends on the head into which it is sown. The hard path represents the shut head, which refuses to take it in. The shallow ground represents the head that accepts the word but never thinks it out and never realizes its consequences. The thorny ground stands for the head that is so busy to think of the things of God. The good ground stands for the good head. The good head does three things. First, it listens attentively. Second, it thinks over it until it discovers its meaning. Third, it acts upon the findings. 

There is an old saying that God put on our heads two ears and one mouth so we may listen more and talk less. It means that God expects us to listen, think and act out the word. As Moreland noted: "Many people today, including many Christians, simply do not read or think deeply at all. And when believers do read, they tend to browse self-help books or other literature that is not intellectually engaging."

Jill Ammon-Wexler once said that our mind is like a muscle. If it is not exercised regularly and strenuously, it loses some of its capacities and strength. Did you know that PEOPLE WHO ARE SUCCESSFUL in their personal and business lives all share one common secret – they’ve learned to use their brain to focus on a desired goal regardless of what’s going on around them. They have developed a refined ability to single-task, rather than multi-task. This is what Jesus is saying in the Gospel reading of today: They listen to God’s words and cling to them.

Any positive life change must begin with an improvement in our ability to cling to the Word of God. As Jesus said, those who score 100% are the people that cling to the Word of God by engaging in thinking. So, everyday, find time to think, just as you have already time to eat, sleep, watch TV, etc. You can use the daily "Food for thought" to jump start your daily thinking.  

Let’s face it – our brain is our ultimate success tool. Literally everything we are, dream, say and do all starts in the same place – our head. All creativity, personal power, and success starts there. And WE alone make the choice to develop, or overlook, our brain’s staggering potential. We can all use our head to LISTEN. THINK. ACT!