“So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the flood waters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.” (Luke 6:46-49)
The last time we looked at Luke 6 tEditogether we saw that there are three things that really stand out in the story Jesus is telling about house building: Coming, Hearing, and Doing. We have discussed that Jesus says the wise builder is one who continuously comes to him. Next, we observe that Jesus says the wise builder is the one who is continuously hearing him.
As we are continuously coming to Christ, we will be continuously hearing God speak. Again, the original Greek brings out the fact that it is a continuous hearing that Jesus is speaking of: “Everyone who who is hearing…”
Scripture repeatedly warns against becoming “dull of hearing.” There are so many places in the Bible that we find comments like, “He that hath ears to hear” or “Having ears but not hearing.” How any of us came to Christ after hearing the gospel but have stopped coming to hear from him? When is the last time you heard God speak to your heart? So many say, “Well, God never talks to me, etc…” Well, are you continually going to him in prayer, reading his word, spending time in worship (just you & Jesus), and in fellowship with your brothers and sisters? Jesus promised that his sheep would hear his voice, that they would know him, but, as we see in Luke 6; this hearing is linked to a continual coming to Him.
Check out these verses:
Jeremiah. 6:10 “To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it.”
Zechariah 7:11 “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing.”
As I was thinking about hearing , I read the story of the deaf gentile man with the speech impediment found in Mark 7:32 . This guy had been brought to Jesus and his friends were asking Jesus to heal him. I am deeply moved by the compassion and tenderness Jesus displayed in his dealing with this man, how he took him off to the side, away from the crowd. As I read,I began to remember all the times I have heard people mock the way deaf people speak and I imagined that people may have indeed mocked this man as well. It occurred to me that perhaps Jesus did not want to subject him to ridicule or embarrassment so he took him off to the side, by himself to minister to him. The deaf man’s speech impediment came as a result of his inability to hear, in many ways; this mirrors what happens to us when we don’t come to Jesus and hear him speak, or when we grow dull of hearing. When we fail to continuously come to Jesus and hear him speak, when we become deaf to his words, our ability to communicate to others the awesomeness of knowing Jesus is impeded. We are not hearing and we are therefore not able to speak clearly the things the Lord desires for us to share with others. Like the deaf man, we need to come to Jesus, and once we are able to hear, we will be able to tell others of all that God has done for us.
Jesus said that the wise builder is the one who is coming to him, who is hearing him, and as we shall see next time; the wise builder is one who acts on the words of of the Lord.
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