Matthew 13:12 (NLT) To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.
If a hearer is to benefit from Christ’s teachings, he or she must possess a condition of heart that is suitable for the reception of truth, which will then multiply. If that condition of heart is not present (they listen with “annoyance” or “unwillingly,” vs. 13, New World Translation) then the truth he or she “thinks they have” (see Luke 8:18) will be lost. What is that condition of heart? It is a willingness to respond to the truth, not closing one’s eyes and ears (vs. 15) with a pre-disposition against the truth (Mark 7:9; Matthew 23:37). Jesus deliberately withholds truth from those who don’t want it (Matthew 11:25-26). But what a great privilege we have to learn as God reveals Himself to those who seek Him with all their hearts (Jeremiah 29:13).
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