Jenna - Update 4: EA SLAM Service Camp Reflection

One thing that God has been teaching me this week is that Jesus wants disciples who have "ears to hear." All too often, I find myself relating to those who don't really listen and dissect Jesus’ words, but just read the parables and his explanation and leave it at that. Not realizing that there are even more messages left to decipher in his explanation. Not digging deeper into who his target audience was, but just taking the Bible at its face value. This bleeds into my school work and other areas of my life when I become idle. But listening to Mr. Garner's sermon over the Parable of the Sower in Matthew really opened my eyes. It helped me realize that I need to be more proactive and I need to pay more attention. Then, I'll be able to discern what God is trying to tell me. Jesus wanted those with ears to hear because those were the people who could interpret what His messages in His parables were about. They were the people willing to study it, to inspect it, and learn from it. I want to be a disciple who studies God's Word, who pays attention, who understands what he means, and who is willing to dig deeper.

I'm also learning that to truly understand Jesus' parables and metaphors, and even some of the situations we see him in, we have to know the context, which makes reading and dissecting the word so enjoyable and so fun! The Lord has been teaching me and opening my eyes to so much this past week, but that's something that has really stuck out.