HOW TO BE IN THE KNOW
MATTHEW 13:9-12 NKJV
9 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
11 He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.
Here is some insider information straight from Jesus. This is how we stay in the know.
Jesus had just shared with the people one of His most famous parables of the sower sowing the word. He wraps up this parable with the admonition, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Obviously, Jesus was referring to something other than natural ears. Pretty much everyone had ears. When the disciples quizzed Him about why He spoke to the people in parables, Jesus revealed an important truth about hearing.
Jesus told His disciples that it had been given to them to know the mysteries, the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. But to the rest of the people, it had not been given. At face value, that does not seem fair. Why would Jesus reveal important heavenly secrets to His disciples but not to the other people? A good rule of thumb, when we don't understand, is to always stay on Jesus' side. He is always correct and always loving, and always just.
In verse twelve, Jesus reveals who is given heaven's secrets. It is those who have ears to ear. Those who have a heart to know and understand. Those who heard and then asked Jesus for help understanding because they wanted to know. Those that were following Him and hanging on His every word even when they did not totally grasp what He was saying.
Ears to hear is a heart to know and understand. Those who had a heart to know were given more. Those who did not have a heart would not retain what they did hear.
The disciples were around Jesus, and keep in mind there were more than just the twelve. Jesus, at one point, sent out 70, so there were many that were following Him. These were the ones hanging around after He spoke and asking questions and desiring to know what He meant. These were the blessed ones whom Jesus would refer to in verse 16 when He said that their eyes and ears were blessed because they saw and heard.
APPLICATION
Things have not changed today. Culture may change, but spiritual things remain the same. Those who have a hunger to know more of God and His ways are the ones with ears to hear.
We see this in operation in the church. Some can listen to one of my messages and go to sleep. While others can receive God's word and have it change their life. It's not all on my shoulders. I am not making excuses, but ears to hear and a desire to know is still in play. If we want more from God, it will be available to us. If we are satisfied with where we are with God, we will stay there.
There was a song by Paul Baloche we would sing in The Ark's early years. "Stir up a hunger, stir up a hunger in my heart. Nothing will satisfy me; nothing else will do. Stir up a hunger, stir up a hunger in my heart, stir up a hunger in my heart for more of You."
That's a great song, and that makes a great prayer for us today!