OceanSide church of Christ

 Previous Return to Articles Next 

WE HEAR, BUT WE DO NOT HEED

Victor M. Eskew

 

            One of the most important responsibilities man has is to hear the Word of God.  After Jesus spoke His first parable, He concluded it by saying:  “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Mark 4:9).  In verse 24 of that same chapter, Jesus says:  “Take heed what ye hear.”  On the day of Pentecost, Peter exhorted all who had gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost with these words:  “Ye men of Israel, hear these words…” (Acts 2:22).  James, the brother of the Lord, wrote about the importance of hearing God’s Word in James 1:19.  “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”  All seven churches of Asia were exhorted to hear the message the Lord had sent to them.  John wrote:  “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches…” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29, 3:6, 13, 22).

            Another responsibility attached to hearing is heeding what has been heard.  In other words, man is to obey the things that God has set forth in His Word.  Listen to Moses when he “made an end of speaking all these words to all Israel:”  “And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law” (Deut. 32:45-46).  The psalmist writes:  “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?  by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Ps. 119:9).  One of the characteristics of the heart described as “good ground,” involves its keeping of the word that is heard.  “But that on good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15).  After setting forth the superiority of Jesus to angels, the writer of Hebrews admonishes his readers with these words:  “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Heb. 2:1).  And, most are very familiar with the words of James 1:22:  “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

            Unfortunately, man does not always heed what he hears from God.  It began early in the Garden of Eden.  Man was commanded not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17).  Even though Eve had heard the words (Gen. 3:2-3), she failed to give heed to the Lord’s command.  “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that is was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat” (Gen. 3:6).

            There are many other examples of failing to heed God’s Word found in the Scriptures.  At Mount Sinai, God spoke what are known as “The Ten Words,” or, “The Ten Commandments” to all of Israel.  The first two commands were very simple:  1)  “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” 2) “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;  thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them…” (Exo. 20:3-5a).  Israel definitely heard.  God’s words were so powerful that they feared for their lives (Exo. 20:19).  Sadly, Israel did not heed the words God spoke to them.  After Moses had been on Mount Sinai many days, the Israelites coerced Aaron into sculpting a golden calf to be their god.  “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play” (Exo. 32:6). 

            Jonah was another who heard, but failed to heed.  “Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up against me” (Jonah 1:1-2).  One would think that a prophet would be ready and eager to take the message of God to any group of people.  Not Jonah.  “But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:  so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3). 

            We read these examples from Scripture and shake our heads.  We wonder what these individuals were thinking.  Why wouldn’t Eve heed the Word of God, words that were spoken to them directly from God?  Why wouldn’t the children of Israel give heed to God’s Word after hearing him speak from Mount Sinai?  Why wouldn’t a prophet of God heed the commission given to him by God?  Why?  But, couldn’t the same question be asked of us?  Why don’t we heed the things that we have heard from God? 

            We hear God’s Word about the need to attend worship services (Heb. 10:25), and we miss the very next service or Bible class.  We hear God’s Word about supporting the works of the church (Tit. 2:14), and we will not make the time to be part of the most simple projects the church offers.  We hear God’s Word about keeping our speech clean (Eph. 4:29), but we let cuss words fly from our lips at the drop of a hat.  We hear the Word of God concerning lying (Eph. 4:25), but we will still lie if we need to cover our tracks.  We hear God’s Word about teaching the lost (Mark 16:15), but we still leave that work up to someone else and miss many opportunities to teach others the gospel.

            Yes, one of man’s biggest flaws is hearing God’s Word and not giving heed unto it.  Are God’s Words not important?  Will God simply overlook our neglect to give heed to the Word of truth?  Do we honestly believe that our sincerity and genuineness will replace obedience to the words found in the pages of the Bible?  Let’s not be deceived!  Jesus said:  “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him:  the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).  Paul was clear about this matter when he wrote to the young evangelist Timothy.  He told him:  “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine…Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all.  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them:  for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (I Tim. 4:13-16).  As you read the text again, listen to these words:  “give attendance to,” “give thyself wholly to them,” and “continue in them.”  All of these phrases  are telling Timothy to give heed to the things that he has heard.