Profitable Hearing

He said to them, "Take heed what you hear. With whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you who hear. -Mark 4:24

This is a very important counsel. “Take heed what you hear.” The things we hear enter into our souls and become part of our being; they give form and color to our character. There have come infinite blessings from the printing-press. There are thousands of good books and articles whose pages are like leaves from the tree of life, for the healing of the nations. But there are also thousands of evil books and magazines whose pages stink with poison and scatter influences of moral and spiritual death. With all this great mass of books, good and bad, it is vitally important that we pay attention to what we hear. We would not eat poisoned food so why should we take poison into our souls?

If we open our ears to the evil things that are continually spoken on all sides and that come to us on printed pages or the Internet, our hearts will become foul and unclean, and our lives will be corrupted. We should shut our ears to all that is unholy. Many ruined lives can trace their ruin from the moment when an impure word was whispered in a listening ear or when a vile book or web page was secretly read. On the other hand, every beautiful life has been made beautiful by what it has heard. We are saved by words. Pure, true words are transforming.

The Bible is simply a book of words; but every word contains a revelation of some beautiful thing in character or accomplishment which we should strive to reach. We should always choose to hear the words of God gladly because they are always safe and beneficial to us. We must not forget the Master's other counsel, “Be careful therefore how you hear.” (Luke 8:18). We should hear thoughtfully, reverently, obediently, letting the good words of God into our heart, that they may transform our lives.

Apply This To Your Life Today... Is it time to exchange some useless reading material for God's word that brings life and wholeness?