Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, dear ones.

Becki and I just returned recently from picking up Lorna and Ray at the airport. They are glad to be home after a couple weeks in the South.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. That date prompts us to remember more than its traditional significance. It will be the 11th anniversary of Thano’s injury…and the passing of my father. Both occurred the same day while we were in Vanuatu. Both prompt us to reflect on God’s grace.

May your day be blessed.

Love, Dad/Ray.

If you have functional eyes, you will notice in the mirror those floppy little projections on either side of your head. They are, of course, your ears. They are incredible mechanisms of Darwin-defying design. But what you don’t see in the mirror are your essential ears—the ears of your heart. That mechanism is also of God’s design, providing humans with the potential of comprehension and understanding, essential to application and production. At the end of Jesus’ cryptic story, He made reference to these two sets of ears by saying, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (8:8). In other words, “He who has functional physical ears needs to also develop functional psycho-spiritual ears so as to understand and apply.”

What if Jesus told the story of the farmer sowing seed without any explanation? We would be left to engage in an endless guessing game as to what in the world it meant. Thankfully, His disciples were not satisfied with just hearing the story with their physical ears—letting it waft in one ear and out the other. They approached Jesus and asked for explanation toward understanding. That’s what disciples are supposed to do, you know.

Let’s read again verse 18. “Therefore, consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.” So what is the commodity that Jesus says is so essential? I have to conclude that the best answer is HEARING EARS—that is, ears of heart-level understanding that not only hear, but seek, understand, persevere, and apply—a vital recipe for production of God’s will (and the Fruit of the Spirit). Isn’t that what Jesus is saying in His explanation of the parable? He said, “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop” (8:15). So I judge that another appropriate translation of HEARING EARS is A HEART AFTER GOD.

Also notice how Jesus responds to those who report to Jesus that His mother and brothers are just outside the house wanting to see Him. He said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice” (8:21). Wrap-up question: Are you LISTENING?