Articles
Descriptions of Those who Hear the Word of God and Do It
Descriptions of Those who Hear
the Word of God and Do It By Derek Long
Throughout the gospel of Luke, we find Jesus speaking about the individual who hears His word and does it. Jesus depicts for us how He views such an individual. Today, many people want to minimize the importance of doing what Jesus says to do but these passages show us the importance Jesus placed on doing what He says.
• The person who hears and does is like a wise builder.
Luke 6:46-49 says, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” Jesus begins this section by reminding us if we call upon Him as “Lord” then we need to do what He tells us to do. Jesus cannot truly be our Lord when we refuse to obey His commandments. Jesus gives an illustration of two different individuals. One individual laid a foundation upon which to build his house and it was able to withstand the storm. Jesus says the person who comes to Him, hears His sayings, and does them is like this individual. Another individual built a house without laying a foundation for it and it was destroyed when the floods came. Jesus says the individuals who hears His sayings but does nothing is like this individual. Which type of person are you and I? Are we listening to the sayings of Jesus but doing nothing about what He says? Are we listening to Jesus and acting upon them and thus building our house upon the foundation of His word? Is Jesus truly Lord of our lives?
• Those who hear and keep the word are pictured as good ground. Jesus gave a parable talking about what happened to the seed as it was sown upon different types of soil (Luke 8:4-8). He explains what the parable is talking about for us in Luke 8:11-15. The seed is the word of God (Luke 8:11) which was being sown in the hearts of men represented by the different type of soils. The last type of soil Jesus is the good soil. He says, “But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:15). Do we hear Jesus’ word and keep it? If we want to be good soil which produces a crop, we need to hear and keep Jesus’ word.
• Those who hear the word of God and do it are Jesus’ mother and brothers. In the teaching of Jesus a time came where His mother and brothers came seeking to see Him. Jesus was told about such and responded by saying, “My
mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:19-21). Do we want to be part of the family of God? In order to be part of the family of God, we must not simply hear God’s word but also do what it says.
• Those who hear the word of God and keep it are more blessed than Mary. Mary had a wonderful opportunity to be the individual God used to bring Jesus into the world. In Luke 11:27-28 we read of an event which happened in the life of Christ. “And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!’ But He said, ‘More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” So many times we look at a Bible character and wish we could be blessed with the opportunities they had. Instead, we need to take advantage of the wonderful opportunity we have to hear God’s word and keep what it says.
In addition to these passages throughout the gospel of Luke, it will do us good to look at what is written in James 1:21-25 regarding this same theme. “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and 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. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” Are we a hearer only or are we someone who hears and does?
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