Daily Bread Luke 8
Daily Bread Luke 8
11"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those 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. 13Those on the rock 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. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands 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. 15But 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.
Observation:
Here Jesus tells the familiar story of the parable of the seeds. Although Jesus was doing a lot of things that showed the kingdom in action, he takes time teach on how the kingdom works. In the original telling, he just explains the four soil conditions and the four outcomes. It is only on the fourth soil, where the seed takes root and does what it what it was intended to do…reproduce!
Obviously these four conditions show us that there are many challenges to spiritual growth since only 1 in 4 is successful. The key to bearing fruit many times over is perseverance and staying rooted in God’s Word. I did the Math, although only one in four seed bears fruit, it reproduces 100 times (in other versions 30, 60 or 100), which in the end is a lot more than 3 seeds that bore no fruit. That is net growth for the kingdom of God!
Application:
What does this mean for us? One, there will be obstacles to spiritual growth. The devil, the worries and pleasures of this world are all formidable foes. If one wants to grow and stay growing, and eventually reproducing others like them, there will have to be strong roots that go deep and can withstand the storms of life.
And of course the roots are built on the Word of God itself. The Word is the roots that go down deep and keeps us from being uprooted. As we are rooted we are connected with everything that can reproduce new life in us. But when you pull the roots out, like any plant it will not be long before it withers and dies. Just as plants cannot grow apart from being rooted, watered and fertilized, so we too need a similar environment to grow.
And how much joy is there in knowing that as one stays rooted in God’s Word that you will produce fruit many times over. We cannot create this growth on our own. This is true in the church too. True church growth can only come when God’s Word is at the center of our member’s lives, from which God can truly grow the church into a reproducing church. As new churches are planted from growing churches, the Great Commission of reaching all people for Christ can become a reality. Makes sense doesn’t it?
Prayer: Gracious God may Your Word go deep into my heart and may I persevere to do what it tells me to do. Protect me from the things that threaten to uproot the Word from my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
11"This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. 12Those 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. 13Those on the rock 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. 14The seed that fell among thorns stands 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. 15But 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.
Observation:
Here Jesus tells the familiar story of the parable of the seeds. Although Jesus was doing a lot of things that showed the kingdom in action, he takes time teach on how the kingdom works. In the original telling, he just explains the four soil conditions and the four outcomes. It is only on the fourth soil, where the seed takes root and does what it what it was intended to do…reproduce!
Obviously these four conditions show us that there are many challenges to spiritual growth since only 1 in 4 is successful. The key to bearing fruit many times over is perseverance and staying rooted in God’s Word. I did the Math, although only one in four seed bears fruit, it reproduces 100 times (in other versions 30, 60 or 100), which in the end is a lot more than 3 seeds that bore no fruit. That is net growth for the kingdom of God!
Application:
What does this mean for us? One, there will be obstacles to spiritual growth. The devil, the worries and pleasures of this world are all formidable foes. If one wants to grow and stay growing, and eventually reproducing others like them, there will have to be strong roots that go deep and can withstand the storms of life.
And of course the roots are built on the Word of God itself. The Word is the roots that go down deep and keeps us from being uprooted. As we are rooted we are connected with everything that can reproduce new life in us. But when you pull the roots out, like any plant it will not be long before it withers and dies. Just as plants cannot grow apart from being rooted, watered and fertilized, so we too need a similar environment to grow.
And how much joy is there in knowing that as one stays rooted in God’s Word that you will produce fruit many times over. We cannot create this growth on our own. This is true in the church too. True church growth can only come when God’s Word is at the center of our member’s lives, from which God can truly grow the church into a reproducing church. As new churches are planted from growing churches, the Great Commission of reaching all people for Christ can become a reality. Makes sense doesn’t it?
Prayer: Gracious God may Your Word go deep into my heart and may I persevere to do what it tells me to do. Protect me from the things that threaten to uproot the Word from my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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