Watch, Listen, Reflect...
Matthew 13:10-17
10 Then the talmidim (disciples/students) came and asked Yeshua, “Why are you speaking to them in parables?” 11 He answered, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them. 12 For anyone who has something will be given more, so that he will have plenty; but from anyone who has nothing, even what he does have will be taken away. 13 Here is why I speak to them in parables: they look without seeing and listen without hearing or understanding. 14 That is, in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) which says,
‘You will keep on hearing but never understand, and keep on seeing but never perceive, 15 because the heart of this people has become dull — with their ears they barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, so as not to see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and do t’shuvah (return/repent), so that I could heal them.’
16 But you, how blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear! 17 Yes indeed! I tell you that many a prophet and many a tzaddik (spiritual leader) longed to see the things you are seeing but did not see them, and to hear the things you are hearing but did not hear them.
Ears to hear... Do you LISTEN? There is a difference between "hearing" and "listening." I'm noticing this with my teenagers. "I heard you, Mom." hmm.... Sometimes I wonder. They didn't really "listen" to what I said.
When we don't "hear well," and when our eyes are closed to things happening around us, we become dull. That is the words of the prophet Isaiah. I believe this is where we are today in our world. We have become dull...
How can God heal us if we don't understand? How can God help us "turn" and "repent" if we choose not to "hear" and "see?" How can God heal us if we choose to not understand with our heart? To KNOW Him means more than just head/book knowledge.
The disciples were able to hear and see together as they walked with Jesus. They had the full opportunity to be blessed with that time as they sat at His feet.
We will struggle today because we cannot just "talk" to Him. However, He left us the Spirit and the Word tells us that we can "know Him in Spirit and Truth." We can be blessed with the "secrets of the Kingdom" just like the disciples were. We can be so filled with His Presence that He will speak to us and bring us LIFE.
Don't let your heart become dull. Take the time to SEE Him in the people and world around you. Take the time to LISTEN today. Take the time to KNOW Him in Spirit and Truth. Then share that LIFE with those around you.
Love and blessings,
Rose
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