Direct Knowing / Open your eyes and you will hear God

What did Jesus mean

Open your eyes and you will hear God.

Where did Jesus say this

Matthew 13 — “And he spake many things to them in similitudes, saying: Behold, the sower went forth to sow. And as he sowed, some fell by the ways side, and the fowls came, and devoured it up. Some fell upon stony ground where it had not much earth, and anon it sprong up, because it had no depth of earth: and when the sun was up, it caught heat, and for lack of rooting withered away. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns arose and choked it. Part fell in good ground, and brought forth good fruit: some an hundred fold, some fifty fold, some thirty fold. Whosoever hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

A modern translation

God sends his “words” (seeds) to everyone.

He sends them to people who can’t receive them. Their hearts are covered in tar, and the seeds lose their intended purpose (devoured up by fowls).

He sends them to people who aren’t ready. Their hearts haven’t rooted yet, and they aren’t ready to do real work (rooting withered away).

He sends them to people who are stuck. Their hearts are too divided, and they are tethered to the kosmos (thorns arose and choked it).

And he sends them to people who are ready (good ground). These people are ready to receive, and as a result, they listen, understand, and transform (brought forth good fruit).

What Jesus did not mean

1. Seeds are not just what’s written in the Bible.

When God talks to you, he does so in many ways, and never once did Jesus say that you should look inside the Bible to find the seeds of God.

Hebrews 1:1–2 — “God in time past diversely and many ways, spake unto the fathers by prophets: but in these last days he hath spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath made heir of all things: by whom also he made the world.”

2. Prophets are not the only ones who receive God’s “seeds.”

As the parable suggests, anyone can be sent seeds by God. He drops them in all places. Prophets, biblically speaking, are simply the ones who were most open to receiving that seed (and the ones who just so happened to be written about in the Bible).

People everywhere have received, and still receive, God’s seeds. Imagine how large the Bible would be if every seed was written down. At that point, it would just be called “Life.”

Where to start

Start with a receptive heart and offer that heart to Jesus.

A receptive heart is not abstract. It’s a way of being. It simply means you are open to change. When you are open to change, you can repent (turn the other way) and work with Jesus to clean the inside of your cup (transform inside-out).

During this journey, Jesus will speak to you and guide you. But there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. You need a clear channel to receive Jesus properly.

To do this, you must take the steps now to untether yourself from the kosmos (the system, the physical world). This means you must eat better, remove addictions, release shame (apologize to people and make amends), and stop lying to yourself about why you do things.

Jesus is always there to guide you, but he will struggle to get to you if there’s too much tar around your heart (which can come in the form of bad food, bad habits, bad people, and neglected thoughts).

2. God will come to you.

He will come to you in dreams, in books, in music, through other people, in “diversely and many ways.” These are his “seeds.”

However, your ego can complicate things. You may think you’re given a sign, when in reality, it’s just projection.

When something moves from a “mere coincidence” to a “series of external events all lined up,” that’s when you can consider it a seed from God. Think of it like a dot on a map versus several. One dot leads you nowhere; several can take you somewhere.

This is different from simple pattern recognition. You look for a pattern, while God’s dots just seem to “drop” on you (like seeds). And in many cases, those dots might anger or confuse you at first. Once those dots start to accumulate, however, that’s when you can be taken somewhere.

If your heart is closed, though, you might miss a dot or two and end up somewhere you shouldn’t be. Or worse, right in the same spot you were before.

Benefits

Imagine God has a home for you. That home is perfectly decorated and built for you and you alone. But most of us don’t know how to get there, and many more of us can’t even open the door once we do get there.

Jesus provides the directions, and he gives you the key to the door.

When you enter, you are home.

You are in a home that takes you through time, from one place to another, and that home is filled with the life you build with Jesus.

For some, this home may look like building, learning, and crafting. For others, it may look like serving and community. Whatever that home looks like, it’s filled. And that’s the point.

The kosmos is full of fillers, but in your home with Jesus and God, you are filled.