A woman called out to Jesus, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” Jesus answered, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Drown Out the Noise

We are awash in a tidal wave of words. We are assaulted constantly by written and spoken words that drown out the still, quiet voice of the Word of God. It takes effort to sit still, to shut out all other noises and voices, and to read and listen to the Word of God—not read books about Word, or list to Christian radio, or watch religious TV—but read and listen to the Word of God. Jesus did not think it something optional. If we claim to follow him, reading and listening to his Word are as essential to life as breathing and eating.

Read the Word

“As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Luke 11:27-28

####

This article contains content from the NIV Halley’s Study Bible. With content gleaned from the Halley’s Bible Handbook—the bestselling Bible handbook of all time—the NIV Halley’s Study Bible makes the Bible accessible to you through articles, study notes, charts, maps, and photos next to related Scripture. Henry Halley’s passion to spread biblical literacy began with a simple pamphlet and grew into the Halley’s Bible Handbook with over six million copies in print. Now, for the first time, his insights are conveniently placed within a study Bible in the world’s bestselling modern-English Bible translation, the New International Version