Do You Have A Strange Mind?

Eastford Baptist Church
July 27, 2006
Do You Have A Strange Mind?

do you hvae a srtngae mnid? fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo mihgt hvae a vrey sgtrane mnid! Cna yuo raed tihs? Alomst evyrnoe – almsot evrey preosn can wihtuot mcuh of a porbelm.
i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. Tihs dislpays the phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearhcer at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy. eh did smoe resaecrh on how hte huamn mnid wrkos. He syas it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the porfesosr siad taht the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit mcuh of a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid nroamlly deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh, and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Isn’t it strange that our minds can operate in such a way that spelling becomes almost irrelevant to the written word? Although I haven’t yet found a study that verifies my suspicions, I expect the same phenomenon is true when it comes to the issue of listening. Listening is quickly becoming a lost art in our society - Partly because we are constantly bombarded with so much information - Partly because we are just so busy - And partly because so many of us are just poor listeners. Like glossing over the misspelled words above, I think that many of us actually only listen to about one out of every three words as they are spoken.
Are you a good listener? Listen to what the Bible says about Jesus and his listening skills:

* A Good Listener Puts Himself In A Place To Hear:“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” (Mark 1:35)
One characteristic that stands out about Jesus is that He prayed constantly. But was He merely setting a good example for you and me about prayer? He was doing that but also much more. Many times in the New Testament we are told that Jesus withdrew to quiet places to pray. They teach us that Jesus’ heart was a listening heart. He purposefully positioned himself to hear what the Father wanted to say. Jesus understood that He needed time with the Father…time to communicate with Him. And this communication involved speaking and listening, not just hearing but listening.

Have you structured your life in a manner that provides time for you to listen to God. You might say, “But I’m already serving Him.” That’s Good! There are times for serving - But God wants more than that. God wants our attention more than our service. He wants our ears more than our mouths. He wants our hearts more than our minds. He wants all of you!

* A Good Listener Is Careful Of What He Listens To:
Not only did Jesus spend regular time with God in prayer, He also spent regular time in God’s Word. Now of course we don’t find Jesus pulling a leather-bound, N.I.V. New Testament from his satchel and reading it. We do, however, see the awesome example of Jesus, while in the wilderness temptation, using the Word of God to deal with Satan. Three times he is tempted, and each time He resists the attack with the phrase, “It is written” (Luke 4:4,8,12), and then he quotes a verse. Jesus is so familiar with scripture that He not only knows the verse, but He knows how and when to use it. Instead of listening to the lure of temptation, which was designed to defeat Him, he listens to the Word hidden within his heart.

A good listener is one who is careful of what He listens to – He matches up what He hears with what He knows is right. He goes to the right source.Do you know that there are only two ways you can study the Bible?Study it with your mind made up.Study it to let it make up your mind. A good listener will go to the word of God and listen to what it says – not to tell it what to say!

* A Good Listener Responds To What He Hears:He (Jesus) replied, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:28) Good listening involves more than just hearing. It also involves a response to what we hear. Many times after Jesus finishes a teaching session he will say, “Let him who has ears to hear, let him hear.” He wasn’t just talking about the physical act of hearing, but rather responding appropriately to what was just said. He knew there would be many people who would listen, but not to the point of experiencing change. And that’s what he wanted to avoid. Listening should impact our thinking, our attitudes, our priorities and our behaviors. If we have ears to hear – we will respond.

After Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, God said in Matthew 17:5 “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. LISTEN TO HIM!” It always pays to listen to Jesus! It’s a strange mind that hears the Word of the Lord but does not respond to it. So, Listen.

Hoping you hear that still, small voice,

PT