Dave’s Monday Blast – June 17, 2019

“He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:43). How we listen to instruction from God’s Word is of utmost importance, and the author of the book of James points out several different kinds of listeners in his epistle.

From last week:

1. The Deceived Listener – They assume that simply hearing the truths of God’s Word is sufficient for growth. The Scriptures have no impact on their thinking, attitudes, or practices.

New this week:

2. The Distracted Listener – “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” (vv. 23 & 24) This is the person who reads a passage of Scripture or hears a sermon, and may even feel encouraged at the moment, but quickly forgets what it was about and has no real interest to “remember.”

Pastor Jim Denison comments, “When we let the temporal cares of this world distract us from that which is of eternal value, we become like the thorny soil in Jesus’ parable about the various responses to hearing God’s Word.” “These are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.” (Luke 8:14)

3. The Attentive Listener – This is the one “who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it.” (James 1:25) This isn’t a casual look but a concentrated examination and consideration of what we’ve read or heard in God’s Word. Then we apply those truths to our lives, and allow ourselves to be guided by them.

Next week we will conclude with a look at The Obedient Listener!