Hearken

Tonight, we read and listened to President Nelson's talk "Hear Him" in which he said something interesting and topical about the word hearken:

The very first word in the Doctrine and Covenants is hearken. It means “to listen with the intent to obey.” To hearken means to “hear Him”—to hear what the Savior says and then to heed His counsel.

Frankly, I'm not sure how I feel about the use of the word "hear" in the commandment to "Hear Him." Hearing is passive. If there is any sound nearby, we can hardly help hearing it. Listening, or even better, hearkening is much better. To listen means to more actively focus on a sound, and to hearken, as stated above, means "to listen with the intent to obey." It's an active verb that implies future action.

That, I believe, is important. It's not enough to merely hear the Gospel. We must live it. It's not enough to merely hear the commandments. We must obey them. It's not enough to merely hear the words of Christ. We must follow Him. As James says, we must be "doers of the word, and not hearers only" (James 1:22). Of course, hearing is essential. But it is insufficient. We must not only hear the words of Christ and the prophets, but we must "listen with the intent to obey."