Careful Listening

I was struck this morning with Christ's command in Luke 8:18 to be a careful listener.

So take care how you listen; for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has shall be taken away from him.

This command is near the conclusion of the parable of the sower. Don't miss in this passage that Christ stated His purpose for speaking in parables was in fulfillment of Isaiah 6:9, so that:

SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.

So, ultimately, it appears that the responsibility of our care in listening is God's! Unless He grants us the ears to hear His teaching, and the ability to understand His teaching, then the word of God will continue to fall on the soil of hard, rocky, thorny hearts, and we will do nothing with it.

So how does one listen carefully to Christ? You plead with Him to make you a hearer and doer of the Word (Luke 8:21). Be careful how you listen to the Word of the Lord!