Jesus’ disciples came and said to him, “Why do you use parables when you speak to the crowds?” Jesus replied, “Because they haven’t received the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but you have. For those who have will receive more and they will have more than enough. But as for those who don’t have, even the little they have will be taken away from them. This is why I speak to the crowds in parables: although they see, they don’t really see; and although they hear, they don’t really hear or understand. What Isaiah prophesied has become completely true for them: You will hear, to be sure, but never understand; and you will certainly see but never recognize what you are seeing. For this people’s senses have become calloused, and they’ve become hard of hearing, and they’ve shut their eyes so that they won’t see with their eyes or hear with their ears or understand with their minds, and change their hearts and lives that I may heal them. “Happy are your eyes because they see. Happy are your ears because they hear. I assure you that many prophets and righteous people wanted to see what you see and hear what you hear, but they didn’t. (Mat 13:10-17 CEB)
This may be a surprise to you, but did you know that the heart can affect your hearing, and that can affect your brain? Now, don’t try and convince your medical doctor of this, because they will never believe you. The heart is not that organ that pumps blood through your body, but the heart that is the seat of your emotions.
When the heart becomes hard, you can not hear spiritual truth. You’re not deaf; you just can’t comprehend. That hardness stops the heart from expanding to encompass fresh truth. Your spiritual life plateaus, and when you’re challenged by a greater understanding, you react with aggression, because it all sounds like nonsense.
So this is the prescription:
1. Keep the flow of the Holy Spirit moving in your life.
2. Be a passionate lover of God.
3. If you don’t understand something, don’t throw it away. Instead, put it on the shelf and ask the Holy Spirit to give you understanding.
4. Push your self to go higher, deeper and wider in God—there’s always more!
God has more for you, but only a healthy heart can receive it.
