Listen to the word of God and cling to it!

Matthew 13:18-23

Jesus said to his disciples, ‘You are to hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom without understanding, the evil one comes and carries off what was sown in his heart: this is the man who received the seed on the edge of the path. The one who received it on patches of rock is the man who hears the word and welcomes it at once with joy. But he has no root in him, he does not last; let some trial come, or some persecution on account of the word, and he falls away at once. The one who received the seed in thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this world and the lure of riches choke the word and so he produces nothing. And the one who received the seed in rich soil is the man who hears the word and understands it; he is the one who yields a harvest and produces now a hundredfold, now sixty, now thirty.’

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!