"Then Jesus added, "Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given ---and you will receive even more. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them." (Mark 4:24-25 NLT)

Why would what little understanding a person have be taken from them?

Truth ignored is truth lost.

If a person continually hears God's Word but refuses to respond, their heart becomes less sensitive. What they once understood begins to face. It's like a muscle that weakens when it isn't used.

God gives more light to those who walk in the light the already have. Jesus says, "The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given." Obedience opens the door to greater understanding. Disobedience closes it.

A hardened heart loses spiritual perception. Repeatedly rejecting God's voice can lead to spiritual blindness. A person may still hear the words, but they no longer grasp their meaning or feel their conviction.

Jesus is saying: Use the truth God has given you, and He will entrust you with more. Ignore it, and even our ability to recognize the truth will gradually fade.

Father,

Help me listen more with a heart of desire so I can understand even more and be given even more.

Amen

— Dennis