Take Care How You Hear is Jesus’ warning after the parable of the sower.
Take care then how you hear,
for to the one who has,
more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.
Pay attention to what you hear.
With the measure you use,
it will be measured to you,
and still more will be added to you.
Hearing is not sitting still while sound passes.
It is the difference between fruit and a snatched word.
Luke places the saying where the seed has just been explained. The seed is the word of God. The path, the rock, the thorns, and the good soil are four ways of hearing. Then Jesus adds the lamp. No one lights it and hides it. Nothing hidden will stay hidden. Take care how you hear.
Mark says, Pay attention to what you hear. The measure you use comes back to you. The person who has—who receives the word and holds it fast in an honest heart—receives more. The person who only thinks he has loses even the impression he was counting as faith. Israel had ears and would not hear. Isaiah had already named that judgment. Jesus applies it to every crowd that likes sermons and keeps the thorns.
James later said be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Paul said faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. Careless hearing is not a small fault in a religion of the Word. It is how the devil snatches, how rocks stay shallow, how cares choke, and how a lamp is put under a bed. Take care is a command to watch the soil while the Sower is still speaking.
- How you hear matters as much as that you were in the room.
- More given and more taken is the law of the field, not a mood.
- The measure you use is the seriousness with which you receive the word.
- Thinking you have is not the same as having.
- A lamp is for a stand. Hidden hearing is not the goal.
- The same word that saves judges the ear that shrugs.
- Hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.
- Four Soils – Path, rock, thorns, good earth—four hearings of one word.
- The Lamp – Lit to be seen; secrets come to light.
- The Measure – Attention returns as increase or loss.
- More Given – The one who has receives still more.
- Taken Away – Even what he thinks he has.
- Doers – Hearing that becomes obedience.
- Patience – Fruit in the good soil is not instant.
- Luke 8:18 – “Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.”
- Mark 4:24-25 – “And he said to them, ‘Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you, and still more will be added to you. For to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.’”
- Luke 8:11-15 – “The seed is the word of God… As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”
- Luke 8:16-17 – “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest…”
- Matthew 13:9, 12 – “He who has ears, let him hear… For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
- Matthew 13:19 – “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.”
- Isaiah 6:9-10 – “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.”
- Hebrews 2:1 – “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”
- Hebrews 4:2 – “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”
- James 1:21-25 – “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves… the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres… he will be blessed in his doing.”
- Romans 10:17 – “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
- Deuteronomy 6:4 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
- Ezekiel 33:31-32 – They hear your words but will not do them; you are to them like one who sings lustful songs.
- Matthew 7:24-27 – Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them is like a wise man who built on the rock.
- John 5:24 – “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.”
- Revelation 2:7 – “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
- Proverbs 4:20-22 – “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings… For they are life to those who find them.”
- Luke 11:28 – “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
Take care then how you hear.
Pay attention to what you hear. With the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
To the one who has, more will be given. From the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.
The seed is the word of God. Hold it fast in an honest and good heart. Bear fruit with patience.
Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.
Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
He who has an ear, let him hear. Do not drift. Do not hide the lamp. Hear—and keep it.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.