“Come and Hear”
We looked at this subject a little during this month. But in today’s scripture Jesus is inviting us to come, hear and listen. So many times we mistake hearing as listening. But if it is the same why did Jesus the greatest teacher to ever live consider them different? Hearing is taking information into our minds. Listening is responding to that same information, trusting and obeying what you have heard.
Today’s teaching by Jesus is packed full of truth and instructions. It has solid information and He is calling us to respond. Every lesson Jesus taught was for the good of His people. But once again the only way we benefit from our Lord’s teaching is to humble ourselves, trust and obey!
Matthew 15:10-14
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “Listen,” he said, “and try to understand. 11 It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you realize you offended the Pharisees by what you just said?” 13 Jesus replied, “Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, 14 so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.”
Let’s be honest in today’s world there is a lot of information to listen too. Sometimes it is difficult to discern what is truth or lies, what is important or what is nonsense.
But today it is different, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, come, hear and listen to My words, try to understand! Jesus is speaking to His followers. Remember the Jewish people had many dietary laws, breaking these laws would mean the people would be unclean and defiled. So Jesus was teaching, it is not what goes in your mouth that defiles you but what comes out. From the very beginning we are told in scripture, God looks at our hearts! Our words reflect the condition of our hearts therefore if our words don’t glorify the Lord and lift one another up our hearts are defiled. My friends, when this occurs we need to immediately address the problem.
After Christ said these words, His disciples came to Him and let Him know that He offended the Pharisees. Jesus doesn’t shrink back from speaking the truth. He continues to teach the disciples a very valuable lesson. “Be careful who you are listening to, not everyone is who they say they are.” We need to take the time to evaluate what others are teaching. Do their words align with God’s truth? If they are leading, where are they leading you?
We should all take time and be willing to evaluate our words. We should also be careful to evaluate the words of others. Not in a judgmental way but according to God’s truth! If we humble ourselves before Almighty God and walk in His Spirit, He will give us the wisdom and discernment to listen and follow the right leaders!
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