Mark 4:24-25

New Living Translation (NLT)

24 Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given[a]—and you will receive even more. 25 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.”

The scripture reference for today is longer, Mark 4:21-34, with three short parables. You may read it for yourself by clicking on the link. I have chosen to focus on a few verses between two parables because I feel they build on yesterday’s parable.

How cool is it to pay close attention to Bible verses? Probably not cool with some of your classmates. If you walk up to several teens at random and ask them if reading Bible verses was cool, you would get answers ranging from “Are you kidding?” to “h— no,” while a few might say “Well, yes, but I don’t know very many,” or “I hear some on Sunday at church.”

Is it cool to read them every day? The true answer to this question won’t be found by asking the crowd. When we think “cool” we probably need to think “cool to who?” (technically I should say to whom, but that’s probably not cool either – I digress…).

During the teen years our peers are very important to us, but these teen years are extremely temporary compared to a lifetime, and a mere breath compared to eternity. But it didn’t feel like that to me when I was a teen. Time crept on as I worried from one thing to another.

Back to “cool” and the question “Is paying close attention to Bible verses cool?” Read the verses again and know that it is Jesus talking: “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.”

Do you remember the seeds that were sown on the path from yesterday – the birds came and ate them? (Mark 4:4 and 4:15) Does this sound a little familiar?

Does Jesus think it is important to listen closely? A good relationship with anyone doesn’t just happen. If you ignored your date, would you expect a good relationship to develop?

Relationships require effort to grow. If you value your relationship with Jesus, you will spend time talking to him and reading his word on a regular basis. You might just start with reading the full passage for today which contains three short parables. Here it is again Mark 4:21-34.