Thursday, March 21, 2013

March 22, 2013

"Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root." Mark 4:5-6
 
When I was growing up one of the leading brands of electronic products was RCA. Their logo showed a dog sitting near an old Victrola-style phonograph with a listening ear leaned toward the speaker. The tag line attached to the logo was, "The master's voice".
 
 
Shouldn't this be the picture of a Christian listening to hear the voice of their Master?
 
The second sort of hearer mentioned in the Parable of the Sower is represented by the rocky soil. This is the hearer who listens to the Word and receives it gladly. His faith is stirred and is initiated within his spirit.
 
Often this is the person who experiences trouble and rocky times in his life and turns to faith looking for help. And he finds it because any time you sincerely call on the name of the Lord you will find Him.
 
But while he heard the Master's voice and listened, he didn't have time to learn from the Word and put down deep roots. Since his faith is shallow from lack of knowledge he doesn't withstand the heat of life's trials and faith dies.
 
So, we have the hearer who doesn't listen and we have the hearer who listens but doesn't learn.
 
The first I call the ego-centered hearer. He doesn't think he really needs to hear the Word and so when he does he only listens to what he wants to hear. Therefore, his heart becomes hardened.
 
Regarding the second hearer, he is what I call the emergency hearer. This hearer finds himself in a bad situation and his life has become rocky so he turns to God for help. Sure enough, he finds help from a faithful God. But he doesn't diligently continue to listen and learn from the Word so his shallow spiritual roots are not deep enough to sustain him.
 
Do either of these scenarios apply to you?
 
Are you listening to the voice of God through His Word or through preaching or teaching ministries? Are you studying to learn from God's Word so you can put down deep roots?