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so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly.
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Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds.
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Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.
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"Are you listening to this? Really listening?"
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The disciples came up and asked, "Why do you tell stories?"
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He replied, "You've been given insight into God's kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn't been given to them.
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Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears.
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That's why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. In their present state they can stare till doomsday and not see it, listen till they're blue in the face and not get it.
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I don't want Isaiah's forecast repeated all over again: Your ears are open but you don't hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don't see a thing.
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The people are blockheads! They stick their fingers in their ears so they won't have to listen; They screw their eyes shut so they won't have to look, so they won't have to deal with me face-to-face and let me heal them.
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"But you have God-blessed eyes - eyes that see! And God-blessed ears - ears that hear!