Shortly after writing my last post, as I was making my way through the Chronicles, I was realizing that my love of reading the bible daily as well as my discipline to sticking to my scheduled reading was slipping. I took a step back and asked myself some questions in the hopes to figure out why this was happening. At the beginning of the summer, I was so excited! I couldn't wait to crack open my bible every day and see what God's word had to share with me that day but as the summer progressed, it became more like a chore than a joy. I quickly realized that I had become discouraged by trying to read the Old Testament. All the laws, records of the kings, and all the other historical information found in the Old Testament was cool to read and stuff but at this point in my faith, it's not what I needed to be reading. So, after talking to a couple of wonderful people who's opinions I highly respect, I decided to start reading the New Testament and within 3 days, I had finished the book of Matthew! I was so into it! The stories of Jesus performing miracles and all the parables that were held in those pages captivated me! It was so awesome! And with that... my drive has returned! I plan to some day get through the Old Testament (I made it almost through 2 Chronicles) but for now, the goal is to read the New Testament and soak up as much Jesus as I can before I head back to college in 5 weeks as well as reading Proverbs in preparation for a bible study I will be leading when I get back to school! So excited! (So if you have any tips or comments about Proverbs, comment them below!! I'd really appreciate it!)
So, as I was reading Matthew, so many different passages stood out to me with a variety of lessons in them! One passage that I have always loved is the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-9. "That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.” I love this passage because it is so applicable to life every day! We can be any player in this parable on any given day... the sower, the seed, the birds, the thorns, etc. it differs in every situation. Put yourself in the position of the sower. When you are seeking things such as a relationship or friendship, you are sowing your seeds in the garden of your life. But where are you planting these seeds? Is it in a place where you are vulnerable to be taken advantage of and consumed by birds like the path? Are you sowing in a "temporary position" such as a relationship that you don't see going anywhere or a friendship that's based solely on your loneliness? Something "just to get you through"? That's like the rocky ground where there's little soil. You may thrive for a little while but eventually, something is going to come along that is going to destroy you quickly since your roots aren't very deep. How about the thorns? Are you in a restricting relationship? Job? Friendship? Something that doesn't allow you any room for change/creativity/growth? Something that sucks the life out of you and makes you feel as if you'll never see good news? If so, you are rooted among the thorns of your life and probably won't survive in that situation much longer. But sometimes are seeds do land on good, fertile soil and we are able to thrive. A Christ-centered relationship, a friendship where we are held accountable for our actions, or a job that we love and look forward to doing where we can glorify Him! Now that's where I want to plant my seeds. Don't just toss pieces of you into the wind and hope they land somewhere good. Deliberately plant them where you know they will thrive. But let's not forget about the other aspects of this parable... the birds, the thorns, and the sun. We can also be any of these players on a given day. Are you a bird who preys on vulnerable people? Or a thorn bush that strangles anyone who comes near it with your clingy or pessimistic attitude? Are you the sun who just likes to test people to see just how much they can take? Take a long, hard look at all the various aspects of your life. Figure out what part you play in all the relationships you're a part of and if the environments you're in are environments where you can grow and thrive and bear the fruits of the spirit!
Which one are you??
Personally, I was pretty convicted by this passage... I know some of my friendships aren't the best for me to be in and that some environments that I choose to place myself into aren't healthy. So I still need to do some soul searching and maybe do some weeding and transplanting in the garden of my life. How about you? What's your next move??
