When I have previously read the parable of the farmer scattering seed, I saw the hard soil as unbelievers, and the rocky, thorny, and good soils as different types of Believers. But this time, I wonder if the hard, rocky, and thorny soils are all unbelievers, because when you consider Scripture as a whole, it seems like only the genuine Believers produce fruit (cf. Matthew 3:8-10, Matthew 7:15-20, Matthew 12:33, Matthew 21:43, Luke 3:8-9, Luke 6:43-44, Luke 13:6-9, John 15:1-17, Romans 7:4, Galatians 5:22-25, Ephesians 5:8-11, Philippians 1:9-11, Colossians 1:3-12, James 3:17, Jude 1:12).
Mt 13:23 The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God's word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!"
This realization is sobering; I must produce fruit in keeping with repentance! The challenge is that I (in and of myself) can not produce fruit - it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is a supernatural result of faith and obedience. And, I think it is related to how Paul was encouraging Timothy:
1 Tim 4:6 If you explain these things to the brothers and sisters, Timothy, you will be a worthy servant of Christ Jesus, one who is nourished by the message of faith and the good teaching you have followed. 7 Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives' tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. 8 "Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." 9 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. 10 This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers. 11 Teach these things and insist that everyone learn them. 12Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.
These verses are encouraging to me - especially verse 12. He is talking about producing spiritual fruit! I think one of the people that I "shouldn't let think less of me because I am young" is me. I need to continue to step up and be a leader with my wife and son and in the leadership I have in our congregation.
Heavenly Father, thank you for giving me faith in Jesus Christ. Please forgive me for all of the stinky fruit of the flesh that I have produced. Holy Spirit, please make me a 100-fold producer of Good Fruit! Please produce in me a crop of fruit that honors you and leads others to produce fruit. Lord, please take the seeds that are inside the fruit that you produce in me, and plant them in other people. Father, may your love flow through me, and may the light of Jesus Christ shine brightly in my heart and face. Please help me lead my wife and son to worship you and serve you faithfully, and please help me lead the Brothers and Sisters in my Bible study group to walk with you more closely and produce fruit. Holy Spirit, please convict the hearts of those who think they are Believers but are only deceived, and please lead them to genuine faith and obedience under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Lord, may you be pleased and honored. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I used to view it the same way, Shane, as the thorns, rocks, and hard soils as the unbeliever; and the good soil as the believer. But I don't think that is the only aspect Christ was trying to convey.
ReplyDeleteI think these different aspects can reflect our own hearts regarding Spiritual Growth. The only "measuring stick" of Spiritual Growth we have as Christ-Followers is dying to our selfish desires; and subjecting them to the Lord by way of serving and agape toward others.
Dying to self begins with the Lord convicting you about something; and how you respond. I don't believe in the phrase "personal conviction"; in fact, I have a really hard time with that phrase (that is a phrase that will get me riled up). Conviction comes from the Lord, and the Lord alone. I think we have different beliefs and responses about how the Lord is convicting us.
Furthermore, if you really look at it; what is the Lord convicting us (the Christ-Follower) to do? He is convicting us to give up things to help us "die to ourselves." We as humans, tend to think that when we give up something it must be bad, harmful, sinful, etc. But that is not necessarily the case. What the Lord convicts us to remove from our life, is the next step we need to take to die to ourselves, so He can be revealed through us. Just like a catepillar doesn't become a butterfly overnight; there is a process of metamorphisis of dying to self that we must go through in order to reflect Christ more.
All of this to say that the different soils reflect our own hearts when the Lord convicts us to remove something. Sometimes his conviction falls by the roadside of our heart. We don't really put it into action. We are hearers of the Word, but not doers. And then we let the "birds" (or temptation, selfishness, outside influences, or even the devil) eat it because we did not really grasp what the Lord wanted us to do.
When God convicts us, there are times we accept it with joy until it becomes difficult. Once it becomes difficult, we begin to question if this is what Christ really wanted us to do; and so we stop doing it. We become unwilling to go any further because of the difficulty, until that conviction is seared by the hardness of our heart.
Sometimes the Lord convicts us, and we really take it to heart and feel like we need to act on it; but we begin to worry about the material things we have in life; and how we will make ends meet. A good example would be the Lord convicting us to go serve somewhere in our community on a certain night, and our first thought is "Yeah, that's a great idea. Oh wait, the big game is on that night, maybe I can do it after the game." And after the game, there is something else, and something else. So much so that it hinders us from accomplishing what we've been convicted to do.
Then there are times when God convicts us; and we absolutely surrender to it; and it takes root in our lives, and we are never the same.
Then the process starts again. God brings conviction on us, until He finds the good soil in our hearts. He can't uproot the thorns, rocks, or till the road all at once. It takes time. These things hinder what He really has for us; and we have to be willing to surrender.
I have begun to pray, "Lord, what area of my life is hindering me from complete surrender. Till my heart, break me into soft soil; so Your word may be complete."
Amen! May the Lord soften my heart to receive His Word and respond in faith and obedience for His glory.
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