A Teachable Heart
March 12, 2025
A Teachable Heart
Do you have a teachable heart? When you read the Bible does it come alive for you, or is it typically more like reading a newspaper? If it is more like a newspaper, then you are reading too fast, or you are distracted, or you simply do not have an open and teachable heart.
Reading the Scriptures to satisfy your religious checklist will not satisfy your heart.
Jesus had a lot to say about the importance of a teachable heart, and about listening with ears to hear, so that what we hear actually penetrates into our heart.
In Matthew 13, he addresses the teachable and non-teachable heart in his very first parable, the Parable of the Four Soils. He first gives the parable to all his followers, then the befuddled disciples ask him in private why he speaks in parables. He replies,
“Whenever someone has a ready heart, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears.
“Those who don’t listen with an open, teachable heart, even the understanding that they think they have will fade away. That’s why I teach the people using parables, because they think they’re looking for truth, yet because their hearts are unteachable, they will never discover it. 1
Surely this is not you. Of course not. But, uh, maybe … just a little … or a lot?
Read the Bible with a Mirror, not a Window
Look in the mirror while you are reading the Scriptures. If you are reading with a mirror, you will most certainly hear His voice. But if you are reading with a window, looking around, thinking about how much this applies to “them,” you simply will not “hear with ears to hear.”
The Holy Spirit is not into shouting to get our attention.
Heed Jesus’ brother James’ warning as well as his encouragement:
“Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:23-25)
“ … the perfect law … that gives … freedom.”
Who in the world associates the “Law of God” with freedom? Not many. Only those who are reading with a teachable heart, because they have come to see God’s “laws” are not rigid, wooden rules designed to box us in, but instead they are his teachings, his way of living, designed to give us freedom.
As Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
Freedom from the prison of Self, and freedom to live Jesus’ life to the full.
Open your heart and your mind as you read and contemplate the Scriptures. Experience its freedom. Slow down. S l o w … d o w n. Engage with Jesus as you read. And why? Because you know there is more. Read and listen with a teachable heart, and find it!
- Matthew 13:11-15 The Message and The Passion Translation with some paraphrase by Sam and with Bold added
