A GOD WORTH SEEKING - Part 2 of 13

A GOD WORTH SEEKING - Part 2 of 13

Mar 07, 2022

PART 2 - SOWING SEED

If you happened to do what Jesus said, getting alone with God and making any attempt, however muddled, to reach up to or out to God, then it may be that you had some great moment of certainty, or clarity, or love, or light, or any of the other things we might naturally associate with the idea of a God-worth-seeking. You might have wept or received a vision of heaven. Or you might have been healed of a life-long ailment right there on the spot. Perhaps you saw God as the only pure and perfect Will, or the Source of all love. Maybe an angel appeared to you and strengthened you. If you received any such gift, thanks be to God!

But perhaps you received the usual... nothing you could precisely put your finger on. 

As I will do again and again, I admonish you to hear the words of Jesus:

“Behold, the sower went out to sow; some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds ate them. Others fell on rocky places, and because they had no root, they withered away. Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns choked them. But others fell on good soil and yielded a crop.

“Listen to the parable. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart: this is the seed beside the road. The rocky places—this one hears the word with joy, yet has no root in himself. When affliction occurs because of the word, he falls away. The one among thorns hears, and the anxiety of the world and deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But the seed on the good soil hears the word and understands it, bears fruit and produces—some a hundred times as much.” -Jesus

Jesus speaks often of the “kingdom”. For now, just think of the kingdom as everything that falls under the rule of God. If you place yourself under His rule, you’re part of His kingdom.

These kingdom words, according to Jesus, are somehow like seeds planted in hearts. In these parables, these teaching stories, Jesus is trying to show us spiritual things we cannot see, using illustrations we can understand. Spiritually, we are being taught to hear spiritual truth (the seed), to receive it into ourselves deeply (the root), to not give up on the life in the seed (to wither away), and to avoid hindrances (thorns). Those who hear and understand, bear fruit.

Notice that, though it sprang up joyfully at first, the seed in the shallow heart soon withers and falls away. What such hearts cannot abide is trouble. They are only superficial, without any root; when trouble comes, they go. So, if you received something wonderful from God as you sought Him, that is very, very well. But would you have continued seeking Him without such a gift—if you had received some trouble instead? Until trouble comes, you do not know. And even if you make it through the first sign of trouble, you can later be choked by anxieties of the world and all the lies of money—held fast in the thorn bushes of worry and wealth!

What’s the secret then? Trust in the seed—this word of the kingdom. Even if your heart is of the first, worst sort, yet if you’re nonetheless willing to humble yourself and admit that your heart is rotten, then God will change your heart. The one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Some might ask, “Ok, but what am I to do with this information?” In all sincerity, practice patience. Isn’t that the very nature of seeds? Do you ever harvest a crop on the same day that you plant it? If the first lesson was to pray, this one is to wait. So, continue to pray, to reach “up”, seeking to receive any “seed” from the God-worth-seeking. And as you wait, remember that what seeds do is grow, and that good fruit comes in due season. This is the usual, for soils, and for souls.

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