Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 186

July 5;    Mark 4:24;    32/260(III);    ‘Pay Attention’

Mark 4:24 And be sure to pay attention to what you hear. The more you do this, the more you will understand — and even more, besides.        NLT

The Lord Jesus has just finished teaching the parable about the sower and the seed.  The parable is all about the Word of God and the heart attitudes of those who hear the Word.  The first thing Jesus teaches is to pay attention to what you hear.  You could be listening to something or reading something and not be paying one bit of attention to what you hear or read.  I know this is so, because I did it much of the time in school.  It is possible to read something and not have the slightest idea what you have read, simply because you are not paying attention to what you are reading.  You could be hearing a message in church and thinking about other things, nullifying the benefit of the Word of God.  Not paying attention to my studies in school was extremely foolish on my part.  Not paying attention to the Word of God is far worse, since the Word of God teaches you how much you are loved by the Lord and all of the things that He has done for you.  People grow in their Christian walk, not by the time chronologically they have been a Christian.  They grow by the amount of time they spend attentively hearing and reading the Word of God.  This verse goes on to say, that the more time you spend in the Word of God the better you will know and understand the Word.  Additionally, if you are diligent to hearing and reading the Word, the Holy Spirit will give you revelation knowledge concerning the scriptures you read.  Take the Word seriously, it blesses you.