Responses

There are four responses to the Word being taught:

Those who are not believers have a heart of stone. No transformation can occur. Regeneration is necessary. There must be life in order for there to be understanding.
Some respond to the Word emotionally, but when they discover that following Christ is incredibly difficult--a constant warfare with their flesh and the enemy--they turn away. Being unwilling to count the cost, they pursue other gods--well, their own wants--and then when storms come, they blame God even though they are the ones who have rejected the God of all comfort.
Some respond to the Word, embrace it, even start to be transformed, but then they get lured away by the treasures the world tempts them with. With their feet planted in both worlds--God's and the earthly--they find themselves servants of the earthly. Their treasures become rusted, moth eaten, or lost to thieves--and there are a lot of different thieves in this world. Their transformation is smothered by the worries and cares of this world that flourish in the pursuit of such temporal riches.
Some respond to the world and despite the warfare and the lures commit themselves to following Him despite the cost. And there is always a cost. They find themselves, despite themselves--being inexplicably transformed into His likeness. They react to people and things as He reacted--and they know it's Him at work in their lives and not themselves. And they hunger and thirst for more of the Word of righteousness. More of His transforming power.

What is your response to the Word? If there is no hunger for the Word, something is amiss. If there is no warfare, something is amiss. If there is no luring, something is amiss. Those are all part of the struggle to become more like Him--the enemy never rests. And He knows what desires lure you into a love of the world, his world.

If there has never been a hunger for the Word, you are still spiritually dead. Lifeless. The reason you can't hear His voice or see His hands of love at work in your life is because you lack spiritual ears and spiritual eyes.

"As newborn babes, you must desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby." The Word transforms; the world conforms. Whose likeness do you reflect?