Turn it off!!! (If only for a little while!)

"Speak Lord, your servant is listening!" (1Samuel 3:10)

"He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame." (Proverbs 18:13).

“Be quick to listen and slow to speak." (James 1:19).

"You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed." (Luke 10:38-42).

"This is my beloved Son; listen to him." (Mark 9:7)

"Do whatever he tells you." (John 2:5)

Jesus' teaching method was a very simple one.  He used parables – short stories and images taken from everyday life to convey hidden truths about the kingdom of God. Like a skillful artist, Jesus painted evocative pictures with short and simple words. A good image can speak more loudly and clearly than many words. Jesus used the ordinary everyday to point to another order of reality – hidden, yet visible to those who had "eyes to see" and "ears to hear". Jesus communicated with pictures and stories, vivid illustrations which captured the imaginations of His audience more powerfully than an abstract presentation could. His parables are like “buried treasure waiting to be discovered” (Matt. 13:44).

Jesus' parable of the sower is aimed at the hearers of His word. There are different ways of accepting God's word and they produce different kinds of fruit accordingly.  There is the prejudiced hearer who has a shut mind. Such a person is unteachable and blind to what he or she doesn't want to hear. Then there is the shallow hearer. He or she fails to think things out or think them through; they lack depth. They may initially respond with an emotional reaction; but when it wears off their mind wanders to something else.  Another type of hearer is the person who has many interests or cares, but who lacks the ability to hear or comprehend what is truly important; such a person is forever too busy to pray or too preoccupied to study and meditate on God's word.  He or she may work so hard that they are too tired to even think of anything else but their work.  Then there is the one whose mind is open.  Such a person is always willing to LISTEN, to HEAR, to LEARN, and to ACT on that learning. He or she is never too proud or too busy to learn. They listen in order to understand. God gives grace to those who hunger for His word that they may understand His will and have the strength to live and act according to it.

It's hard, if not impossible to communicate with someone who is not listening at all or giving you only part of their attention. Christ must get frustrated with us! He loves us so much, and wants to become one with each of us, but it is hard if we are not being attentive to Him.  We must turn the "noise" of the world off to make it easier to listen. Peace and quiet are so important!