“Then He said to them, ‘Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given’” (Mark 4:24).
We measure everything we hear. When you take notes in church, you judge every statement made by the speaker and only write down what you judge worthy. I’ve noticed in church that as people take notes, not everyone takes notes at the same time. That’s because not everyone is valuing the words with the same measure. What’s important to one person may not be important to someone else.
The measure that you use and the judgment that you place on the value of what you hear determines what will eventually get into your heart. What is in your heart will be spoken and what is in your heart will be revealed in your spiritual walk with the Lord. Everything must be measured by the Word of God and by God’s standard.
It’s unbelievable what some people use as a measure. Recently I saw a young boy with multiple piercings on his face. His lips and tongue had so much metal that he would have to make it a point to avoid magnets. His hair was multi-colored and came to multiple points. His cut-off jeans still reached his ankles because his belt line had slipped so low that his underwear was exposed. His T-shirt was for someone twice his size and it was torn.
What is more astonishing than the way this guy looked is a comment that I heard from another youth standing nearby. After observing the metal-studded, mis-dressed young man, the second boy said, “Cool!” He obviously didn’t measure “cool” with the same standard that I did.
The Bible says to take heed what you hear and it goes on to say we must measure the words properly.
Of course, not everyone judges style, food, color, and entertainment by the same standards. But all words must be measured by one standard and one standard only.
Guard what you hear and measure every word spoken by the truth in God’s Word and then you will be using the correct measure.
Devotion 0331
The Cutting Edge 