"And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath." (Mark 4:24,25)
It seems to me that God is more interested in how well we hear than how well we see. For instance, "If any man hear my voice”; "swift to hear"; "Faith cometh by hearing”; etc. In verse 23 of this chapter, Jesus said, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear." In other words, just because we have ears doesn't mean we actually hear. Not only that, not everyone hears the same way, ("Take heed therefore how ye hear…" Luke 8:18). As one old writer has said, “There is no "neutrality of hearing," because "nothing is registered on a clean slate." Our own character will filter, distort, or amplify anything we hear, and we will react accordingly.
Verse 24 tells us that the measure of our ability to hear is the measure of what we will receive from God. Verse 25, however, has always been somewhat of a problem for me. I understand how you can give to someone who already has something; but what do you take from someone who has nothing to give? How about this: Hearers of the Word are continually receiving what God has provided for their spiritual growth; non-hearers, however, are not only deprived of this possible nourishment, but any spiritual gain they made in the past, is soon depleted. In other words, they're losing ground, and that is serious. When we no longer have ears to hear the voice of God, we are left with only a cacophony of this world's useless noise.
Everyone appreciates a good listener; but no one appreciates him or her more than God.
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