• The wisest man; King Solomon, to have ever lived on earth until Jesus Christ walked the earth, advised in Proverbs 4:7, “⁷ Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore, get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.”  Wisdom without understanding is not that helpful – the two go hand-in to get the most out of any given situation.

• The most important ingredient for fruitfulness is neither hearing nor being a doer of the message, but understanding the instruction – that’s what separates the best from the rest. It is not helpful to be quick at doing what you do not understand in the first place. To understand means to perceive the intended meaning out of a given message.
• Understanding takes intentionality. In the Book of Acts 17:10-11, the Bereans exhibited attributes that made them a unique audience for the Apostles Paul and Silas, “¹⁰Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. ¹¹ These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
• The Bereans were distinguished by their fair-mindedness; to be impartial listeners, readiness of mind; to be fully prepared for something, and searching the scriptures daily to ascertain that what they had heard was indeed true. The degree to which we rightly understand a message – be it from God or other people, depends on our impartiality in hearing, readiness to hear, and verifying what we have heard to ascertain authenticity – that’s what the Bereans did.
• In the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:10-23, Jesus explains to His disciples that the multitudes were not given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. Jesus explained the parable when He was withdrawn with His disciples alone. The public arena; crowds, is not the place for revealing mysteries. Mysteries of the Kingdom are revealed in the closet; the inner place with the Lord. We need to always retreat to be with the Lord and inquire of Him on His Word.
• We each have our crowd-moment; it could be the activities we engage in at Church, our workplaces, or even in our homes. The messages we receive when in public are always encrypted, but we can extract the meaning only when we have withdrawn from the crowd.
• In Matthew 13:23, what distinguished the seed that fell on good soil was that the heart of the hearer also understood the Word given. Proverbs 2:6 tells us, “⁶For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.”  Whereas the multitudes in Matthew 13 were hearing the wisdom of the LORD; His Words, they never got to the level of understanding His words. It was only the disciples who understood the words of wisdom because they withdrew to be with Jesus.
• In the Parable of the Sower, all four categories of hearts heard the Word of Wisdom from God. However, what set apart the fruitful heart was the mixing of both the hearing with understanding.

By Dr. Dennis K. Mugimba