Do We Want To Grow?

“This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.  Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.  Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.  They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among the thorns for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.  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.” – Luke 8:11-15

“The seed is the word of God,” and without it nothing can grow, because there is no life.  When I read these verses I thought of Pastor Mike and how he said we should all have a healthy fear of falling, because then we will have our guard up. When I look at each one of the examples, I can see areas in my own life.  Times where the lord convicted me, and yet I didn’t truly hear what He was saying and so I had to relearn my lesson.  I had not yet taken hold of that conviction for my life, I hadn’t let it take root.   The second example can be so easy to fall into.  When I start to put my life into my own hands, because I feel like I have to prove myself, that people are depending on me or if I feel like I have the capability to do it on my own.  I stop letting Christ be completely in control, I don’t put all my faith in Him.  When the verse says, “they do not mature” I had to stop and read it again.  So many times we think we mature on our own, and the world might look at us and say, “Wow, you have grown,” but if we don’t grow and mature in Christ then what is the point?  As the Bible says, “What good is it to gain the whole world, but lose your soul?”  The only way we can mature in faith, when we leave faith at the doorstep, is to have the realization of how much we truly need Christ in all we do.

When the seed of God falls onto an open heart, which is willing to learn and wants to grow, then fruit begins to bloom.  There are so many things that God continues to show me in this last sentence.  If we want to grow, then we need to have an open mind, one that is willing to hear Gods word, even if it isn’t in our favor.  But, after we listen to His words, we need to retain it (apply it to our lives).  But, it is the last part of the sentence that I just love.  It uses the word persevere, which shows me that life won’t always be easy. So many times people want life to be easy, but gold can’t be purified unless it goes through the fire.  Thinking about the growing process in order for roots to grow deep, they have to go through hard spots in the ground, and work themselves around rocks embedded in the ground.  It isn’t always easy to grow, but through perseverance we can plant seeds in others life for Christ and grow into mature Christians.