Sowing

These are all flowers I have grown!

It’s probably because I’m a gardener, but my favorite parable is the parable of the sower.

I love how Jesus uses different pictures of our life here on earth to point to heavenly truths so that we will understand them better. Pictures help. Jesus understood that.

And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:

 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Mark 4:2-9 ESV

I identify most with the part I underlined, I feel like God's word falls on my heart, I'm taking it in, but sometimes I fail to act on it before the cares of the day distract me. Usually, I plan on later, tomorrow, next week. I'm learing that obedience should involve some urgency on my part. I tend to hesitate in places that I think God wants me to just plunge right in and trust Him.

Which one speaks most to your heart right now? Do you feel like you need more depth of soil? Are you allowing Satan to come and steal the seeds of God's word instead of hiding them in your heart? It might be different in different seasons, but our enemy is always trying to distract us from obedience to God's word.

There are so many different places God plants us,and He is also responsible for our growth, but we have to participate. We have to receive the sun and the water and use it.

Where are you planted right now? What has God spoken to you? Are you obeying? Are you bearing fruit?

It may not be something big, like moving...towns, homes, or churches. It might simply be sending the text, taking that meal, having the conversation, loving someone you just met. When you hear something in God's word that prompts you to action, that's the seed. Then you have to act on it, and God blesses that faith and produces fruit. The fruit is up to Him, but the obedience is up to us.

Father, I want your word to take root in me. So, I pray for a circumstance or opportunity today to excercise what you are teaching me. When you show me, help me immediately obey and not talk myself out of it. Let your word grow roots in my heart. Thank you that you both plant the seed and bring the growth. In Jesus name, Amen.