Mark 4:24(NKJV) 24Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.
Yesterday we took some time to study Mark 11:23. This has been a somewhat controversial verse in the past 25 or so years. However, what it says is actually very clear. Jesus spoke to a fig tree commanding it to never produce fruit again. When he and the disciples walked past that tree the next day it had withered and died. Peter was astonished that what Jesus said had happened. Jesus used the power and authority of words spoken by faith to change the natural world.
What has been a problem to some is that Jesus then said to the disciples, “Anyone with faith in God can do the same thing.” He pointed to a mountain and told them they could even move that mountain into the sea if they did not doubt in their hearts that what they said would come to pass. The last statement in this verse says we can have what we say. I did not say that. No particular stream of teaching said that. Jesus said that, and it is a clear statement of what Jesus believed to be fact.
As we have studied the power of words, I have gone to great pains to be clear that the words I am talking about are words that flow from God’s Word. They may or may not be direct quotes from scripture, but they must be energized by bible truth and in line with biblical principle. Jesus was not quoting a scripture when he spoke to the fig tree, but he was speaking out of his relationship with God. He was not just talking to a random fig tree. He was speaking from the will of God concerning the pharisaical system he had seen in the temple. I am not talking about saying anything we want and seeing it happen. I am talking about using the tool God has given us through our words to produce the will of God in the earth.
To this end, we must realize that there is another part of us that is important to what we say. That part is our hearing. What we say is vitally connected to what we continually hear. Any parent knows that this is true. I raised six children. If you listen to little children speak, you know what kinds of things the parents say in their home. Sometimes, we wish the children did not listen so closely.
When my oldest son was 4 or 5 years old, we were visiting my wife’s parents at Christmas. We had learned some things about angels. We knew them to be warriors created by God as helpers for believers. The bible teaches this and we made sure our children knew that some of the pictures they saw of angels were not quite accurate. Grandma had an angel on her Christmas tree. When my son saw it he scolded his grandmother saying, “Grandma! You have a little fat baby with wings on your tree! That’s not what angels look like. They are big strong men!”
My in-laws had not quite gotten that revelation. They laughed at my son, but I wanted to find a rock to hide under. We believed what we taught the children, but that might not have been the best way to express it. However, children tend to say what they hear. So do we.
If we want to speak powerful words, we need to do what Jesus tells us in this verse. We need to “take heed what we hear.” This term has two basic meanings. First, the words “take heed” in this verse actually mean to “see.” Jesus is saying “see what you hear” or, in other words, watch out what you allow into your ears. There are so many voices and so much information available to us that we cannot help but hear all kinds of things. We need to be careful what we hear.
Second, the word “hear” in this verse means to attend to, consider what is or has been said or to understand or perceive the sense of what is said. (Thayer’s Bible Definitions) Jesus is not just talking about what makes it into your ears. He is talking about what you receive into your heart. Be careful what you let get past your ears and into your understanding. What you hear you will say.
We do not often like to hear things that seem to tell us what to do. We need to understand that what God, in this case through the words of Jesus, tells us to do is always for our good. Whether we like it or not we must monitor what we choose to hear. If we allow things into our ears that promote death or fear, some of it will stick and eventually we will speak those things. If we fill our ears with the words of life, they will fill our heart and we will begin to speak them.
As we continue to read this verse, we see a powerful statement by the Lord. Whatever measure we use God will use to give back to us. This is a general principle throughout the bible, but it has a specific meaning here. The Amplified Bible says it this way. The amount of thought and study you give to the truth you hear will be the amount of power and virtue you receive from it. What you choose to hear will determine the power in your words. If you hear life, give it thought and study, your words will be filled with life. If you choose to allow death to be what you hear, death will be what you speak.
This requires some discipline. When my children were home, I did not allow them to listen to secular music. Some secular music is fine, but I did not believe my children had the maturity to discern what music was good and what was bad. I was not going to let the listen over and over to songs that were full of death. I am sure they listened to some of it when I was not around, but they knew my stance and why I felt that way. They are all grown now and not one of them opens themselves to death-filled music. We trained them to “take heed” what they heard.
When we use the term hear, we need to understand that we “hear” with our eyes as well as our ears. I will not allow video or pictures fill my eyes and ears that promote ungodliness. There are some things I like to watch on TV, but if the storyline turns to something I do not need to hear, I will stop watching it. I do not want to “hear” death. I will not listen to doubt, fear or unbelief. I will not listen to something that promotes sin. I cannot afford to dilute my words that way.
Some would say that this is too extreme. When we are talking about successfully living my Christian faith, I do not think it is possible to be too extreme. I want to be extreme. I want to be extremely blessed. I want to be extremely healed and prosperous. Most of all I want to be extremely pleasing to my Father. I want to be an extreme blessing to the world around me. If having that kind of life means doing things that the world thinks are extreme, so be it.
Take a good hard look at what you hear. What are you spending time listening to? You have no control over many things. You can choose what you hear. The more you choose to hear words of faith and hope; the more you will speak words of faith and hope. The more you fill your ears with life, the easier it will be to fill your mouth with words of life. The more thought and study you give to the truth of the bible, the more your words, and eventually your life, will reflect that truth. The choice is yours.
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