Listening

“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.” Luke 8:18
We all need to consider how we listen to, and how we respond to the gospel message. We may have heard it many times before, perhaps every week in church as the altar call goes out. This is not just a message to those who acknowledge they are not Christians. It is also a message to those inside the church.
There are some people to whom this applies. Don’t dismiss the gospel, thinking that you are already saved by works, or because your parents are Christians, or because you went to Sunday school as a child. Have you made a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour? If not, then what you think you have – eternal spiritual security – will be taken from you.
If we have come to faith in Christ as our Saviour, we also still need to listen carefully to the Word of God, because then we will be given more: more insight and understanding, so that we become mature.
How do you respond to the Word of God, and the gospel, being preached? Are you blase about it, thinking you’ve heard it all before so you don’t need to listen? Or do you accept it and seek to be taught new insights from the Holy Spirit?