I’d like to share these words from Jesus…
“To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” Matthew 13:12
I can testify to this truth. I was raised in religion, but there was a major problem…the knowledge of God was only in my head, God wasn’t in my heart. You can even say that my attitude towards the Bible was that it was just a book. I meet people who tell me they have trouble understanding it. To them it’s just a book. They ask, “What’s so great about the Bible? The Bible seems to contradict itself. I’m not reading it.” I can definitely relate. I used to think the same. The Bible didn’t mean much to me – even though in my childhood, it was drilled into my head that the Bible is the Word of God. They could talk all they wanted to…I wasn’t buying what they were selling.
It wasn’t until this disease started to mess with my life. I felt like it was the end of my world. I wanted answers as to why this was happening to me. I exhausted all efforts; going from doctor to doctor with no avail. It seemed that nobody could give me any answers. I remembered my childhood “religion,” and went back to God as a last ditch effort.
It was the New Year (2002), and I found myself at church – because I knew church is where God lives, and I was desperately hoping to hear from Him…Well, the church’s tradition for the New Year was to pass around a basket of scriptures to the congregation, and whichever scripture you pulled out of the basket applied to your life that year. Sounded kind of crazy…”But what did I have to lose?” The scripture I picked almost took my breath away…it was God saying, “I have seen your tears. I have heard your prayers.” 2 Kings 20:5
Understand, I had cried a river over my condition, and only God knows how I’ve prayed.
You see – God answered me because I was looking for Him with all my heart. I felt like He was telling me that I am starting on a new path with Him… And that’s why I am in love with God’s Word. He always answers and talks to me through it.
Sometimes God has to hit us over the head with a brick in order to get our attention. Sadly, that’s the case for most of us. Coming face to face with a crisis will determine which way we’ll go…running into our Creator’s arms, or we can shake our fists in God’s face. Yes, in a crisis is where we discover what we’re truly made of.
When Jesus spoke that phrase, I believe He meant that we grow when we learn to apply God’s Word to our lives. The more we want to learn, the more hunger God will give us.
The New Living Translation Bible Commentary tells me that we are responsible to use well what we have. When people reject Jesus, their hardness of heart drives away, or renders useless even the understanding they have. So how are you using what God has taught you?