Blessed Are Those Who Hear the Word of God and Keep It

(Luke 11:27-28)

A woman in the crowd called out to Jesus saying, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!” (Verse 27) She was building up and saying that Jesus mother was blessed.

There is no doubt that Mary was blessed for she was a chosen instrument of God to become the mother of the Lord. But this can be taken to extremes and put too much emphasis on the wrong thing.

In the world today there are those who have put Mary on a pedestal as an object of worship. Others have placed others of the apostles, disciples and prophets also on pedestals as objects of worship. This is wrong. They were just men and women the same as we are today.

All that they had was what was given to them by God. All that they taught was what they had received from the Lord to teach others. They were no greater or lesser than any other person who comes to Christ, for in Christ Jesus we are all equal. As Paul wrote, “For as many of you as were baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28)

So if this is the case then who can receive the blessings of the Lord? Those who hear and keep the words of God.

Hearing the Word of God

Many times Jesus instructed those he taught saying, “he who has ear to hear, let him hear.” It is important to hear the words of the Lord. Today that can include studying the word as well as listening to the word preached.

Jesus gave us the word, which has been kept for posterity in the Bible. The challenge for each of us is to study the word and seek the truth of what is written. There are many teachings taught in the name of Christ that are not part of the New Covenant, so it is important we learn the truth for ourselves and listen to it.

Keeping the Word of God

But Jesus also taught that to hear the word only is not enough. He said, “And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:26-27)

It is more important to both hear and do the words of God. That is why when Jesus replied to the woman in the crowd he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.” (Verse 28)

The key to receiving the blessings of the Lord are to firstly hear the words of the Lord and then to keep those words. It is in the application of the words of the Lord to your life that you are blessed. It is when you apply Jesus’ words in your life that the work of transformation takes place and we walk with Jesus.

John

Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.