Receptiveness

An openness to people and ideas which needs to be tempered by discernment. It is an attitude which God desires and which he shows to all who call to him.

Receptiveness as a human quality

It is characterised by an open attitude

Matthew 13:16–17 See also Proverbs 18:15, Proverbs 20:12

But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

It is an aspect of love

John 19:26–27 See also Ruth 4:3–5, Ruth 4:13; Matthew 18:5 parallels Mark 9:37, Luke 9:48; Matthew 25:35; Acts 2:44–45, Acts 4:32; 1 Corinthians 13:6–7; Galatians 4:14

When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” So from that hour, this disciple took her into his home.

Thoughtful receptiveness requires discernment

1 John 4:1 See also 1 Corinthians 2:14; Philippians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; Hebrews 5:14

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Thoughtless receptiveness is dangerous

2 Corinthians 11:3–4 See also Deuteronomy 11:16; 1 Kings 11:4; Proverbs 7:21; Colossians 2:8; Hebrews 13:9; 2 John 1:10

I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it very easily.

Spiritual receptiveness is fruitful

John 15:5 See also Psalm 1:3; Proverbs 3:5–6, Proverbs 6:20–22; Jeremiah 17:7–8; John 20:29

I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

God is receptive to human beings

To their needs

Matthew 9:36 See also 2 Kings 14:26; Psalm 103:13–14; Isaiah 63:9; Matthew 6:8, Matthew 15:32 parallel Mark 8:2–3; Luke 7:13; 1 Peter 5:7

When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

To their cries

Psalm 38:9 See also Exodus 3:7; 1 Kings 9:3 parallel 2 Chronicles 7:12; Psalm 6:8–9, Psalm 40:1; Isaiah 65:24; 1 Peter 3:12

O Lord, my every desire is before You; my groaning is not hidden from You.

To their repentance

Hosea 14:1–4 See also 2 Samuel 12:13; Ezekiel 18:27–28; Joel 2:13; Jonah 3:10, Jonah 4:2; Luke 15:7, Luke 15:10, Luke 18:13–14

Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity. Bring your confessions and return to the LORD. Say to Him: “Take away all our iniquity and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips. Assyria will not save us, nor will we ride on horses. We will never again say, ‘Our gods!’ to the work of our own hands. For in You the fatherless find compassion.” I will heal their apostasy; I will freely love them, for My anger has turned away from them.

God's receptiveness may be withdrawn

Zechariah 7:13 See also Psalm 66:18; Proverbs 21:13; Isaiah 59:2; Jeremiah 11:11; Matthew 7:23, Matthew 27:46 parallel Mark 15:34; Psalm 22:1; James 1:7

And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.

People should be receptive to God

Spiritual receptiveness begins by receiving Jesus Christ

John 1:12–13 See also Matthew 10:40; Acts 2:41, Acts 16:14; Colossians 2:6

But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God — children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God.

Spiritual receptiveness requires openness to God's Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:12–16 See also Romans 8:5, Romans 8:16; 1 Corinthians 7:40; Galatians 5:16, Galatians 5:25; Revelation 2:7

We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Receptiveness involves seeking and listening

Isaiah 50:4–5 See also Deuteronomy 4:29; 1 Chronicles 28:9; Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 8:34; Matthew 7:8 parallel Luke 11:10; Luke 10:39; Ephesians 1:18; James 1:19

The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord GOD has opened My ears, and I have not been rebellious, nor have I turned back.

Receptiveness involves accepting and learning

Mark 10:15 parallel Luke 18:17 See also Psalm 1:2; Luke 11:1; John 3:27, John 6:45; Acts 8:30–31, Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 John 2:27

Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Receptiveness requires obedience and action

John 14:23 See also 1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 58:6–7; Matthew 7:21; John 5:17, John 7:17; James 1:25, James 2:14; 1 Peter 4:10

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

Refusing to be receptive to God

Zechariah 7:11–12 See also 2 Chronicles 24:19; Jeremiah 32:33; Matthew 10:14 parallels Mark 6:11, Luke 9:5; John 1:11; Acts 7:51–53; James 1:7–8

But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder; they stopped up their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts.