This morning for my reflection I am going back to one of the famous parables of Jesus, the parable of the seed and soil. I was just looking at Jesus' revelation of the meaning of the parable, focused on the good soil. Here are the excerpted verses - Luke 8:10-11,15 NIV:
[10] "He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, “ 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.' [11] “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God."
[15] "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."
I am reflecting these days on my reception to the Word of the Lord, yesterday looking at my self-focus as one of the areas I need to work on. Today, I am thinking about how I respond to God's word in my life. In verse 10 above, Jesus was quoting out of the prophet Isaiah when speaking about the eyes and ears of the people. In my opinion, He was once again describing the spirit of the generation, hearing but not understanding, seeing but not really able to see. I know I operate in this mode quite often, allowing God's word to basically bounce off my life, or in some cases giving it a good two day try before completely forgetting about it. Other times I am all excited about a word, and then lose patience when it doesn't immediately produce fruit in my life. Jesus describes what good soil looks like in one's life - receptiveness (good and noble heart), listening and repenting, steadfast and persevering.
I was thinking about the commitment to planting seed and waiting for fruit to be born out by that seed, and the reality is that it takes a time commitment and attention to bear good fruit. Even if we plant a bean seed in a styrofoam cup, it takes time for the plant to grow. It won't grow to maturity and fruit bearing stage unless it is cared for, watered, fertilized and transplanted into deeper soil. It might sprout quickly, but the bearing of fruit still takes a significant amount of time and effort. The assumed point in my example is that the cup actually has soil in it, and that represents a receptiveness to God's word. You could spill a bunch of beans into a bunch of styrofoam cups and pretty much none of them will sprout, unless there is water (Holy Spirit) and soil (Receptiveness to hear the word).
So the question for me this morning is how to become more receptive, more diligent, more willing to listen, more steadfast and persevering? In other words, how do I cultivate good soil in my life? First, I need to recognize my need for the word of God in my life! I am pretty self-reliant (I think) and sometimes I tink I can figure this all out on my own. The truth is that I am very limited in my perspective, my understanding and quite selfish. I need God's word to direct me, to bring revelation and to help me mature and grow to be a better person overall. Secondly, I need to spend time listening to His Word. I do a pretty good job of getting up in the morning and taking time to meditate on His word. However, I have a huge need to learn how to be constantly listening to Him throughout the day. I guess I tend to compartmentalize my life, and listening to God during prayer is fine, but when I am working it is like I shut off my listening to Him. I need to learn to listen and perceive all day long. Third, I need to be willing to allow His word to penetrate my selfish worldview, and inaccurate self-image. I can read plenty, but it is in the self-application and self-analysis, when compared to His Word, that allows me to receive His Word. Forth, I need to be willing to change! Oftentimes my comfort overrides His Word, other times its fear. I need to be committed to allowing His word to change me, to change the way I think and then change the way I act, which is simply repentance. Lastly, I need to be committed to consistently applying what I learn, what I hear and what I see in His word into my life. This is where the rubber meets the road, application! I can have all sorts of ideas, and beliefs, and intentions, but until I plant them in my life, water them daily through prayer and attention, they won't bear any fruit. I am the king of good intentions, I have heaps of things I belief, but limited fruit, and that is because I haven't really applied them to my life.
For a real life example, I have the intention of working out. In fact, I have had this intention for about 10 years. It is healthy, it is good, it is important to maintain my blood pressure, my weight and even my cholesterol levels. However, I can almost count on my two hands how many times I have actually worked out. It is God's blessing that my genetics favor my slothful lifestyle, and I am not significantly overweight, or out of shape, but I am not seeing any fruit from working out because I am not working out. Its like I have plenty of working out seeds, still in the seed package, that have never been planted. A couple of times I might throw a few of them out into my life, but within a few weeks I forget all about them. I might start to work out, but within a few weeks my life becomes too busy, or I just don't feel like getting out of my recliner to go work out. Thus, I have no fruit to enjoy.
In the same way, I have many intentions concerning God's call and purpose in my life! I have ample opportunity to apply them in my daily life, and yet I find that most days, I haven't watered or tended these opportunities, and thus see limited fruit. Jesus, in His introduction to His explanation said He was sharing the knowledge of secrets of the Kingdom, and then He goes into a lesson in farming. I want to make everything super spiritual and revelatory, and the truth seems to be that the secrets of the Kingdom are all around us, we just need to see them and apply them to our lives! I just need to hear and understand, and apply them to my life!
Lord, I am hungry for some fruit in my life! Help me to hear and understand, and apply what You show me and speak to me! Help me to move past intentions to application and perseverance! Help me to make real changes in my life, that bear real fruit! Thank You for Your patience and Holy Spirit that provides water to my spiritual soil!
Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment