Just to clear about something: Here’s what Jesus is NOT teaching in Mark 4:24-25—that He’s is on a mission to snatch up spiritual insight from weak believers. NO, rather, the Lord is describing what happens to those with long-term hardness towards the truth, even if they once had great understanding in the Scriptures and had memorized important portions. Over time any discernment they had is taken away because they are wasting it, since it has no effect on them or is not shared with others. This makes perfect sense, because why would God continue to pour out spiritual insight on one who never does anything with it? So what we must understand is that there is no such thing as coasting or putting our Christian walk in neutral. There is either forwards or backwards. To demonstrate that, think about how many Christians you know that have ended up in serious patterns of sin or even a life-altering sin and have traced it back to a season of what they call “coasting” in their walk; in other words, a season of presumption–”Because the Lord has brought me this far, surely he will continue to grow me no matter what I do with the truth I am receiving.” This Mark 4 passage teaches the opposite that God will not keep sowing seeds in this type of soil since it always gets wasted. The Lord is abundantly patient and entirely faithful, but he is not mocked and his grace should never be presumed upon.
We Are Accountable to Pay Attention
We must understand that our accountability is largely based on our stewardship of the truth. For instance, to hear the word of God and not do anything about what you hear is like playing with fire, because you can become more hardened by the only thing that can rescue you from your hardened state.