Chapter Eight Cont....

As we continue on in chapter eight, we read the parable of the farmer scattering seed. As the farmer went out to plant seed, some of it fell on a footpath where it was stepped on and the birds came and ate it. Other seed fell on rocks and shallow soil and when it grew it was killed off because there was no water, more seed fell among thorns and was choked off and finally some of the seed was planted in fertile ground where it produced one hundred times the amount planted.

As Christians, we are called to share the “seed” of our faith with others. We speak to everyone regarding who Jesus is and about the salvation through Him, that is offered to all. We are distributors of His word and that word will be scattered just like the example of the farmer in Luke.

I recently tried to help a person who’s life was a mess. Even though this person is middle aged, they lived with their parents. As a result of a failed marriage and a separate sexual relationship, this person was estranged from their children that were a result of these unions and didn’t have a drivers license because they owed back child support for all three children and for all intents and purposes were bound up and unable to move on with their life as a result of their past actions. I helped them find work and make a deal with the authorities so that they could make payments on their back child support so as to obtain a drivers license and promised to give them my older Volkswagen van once they retained those driving privileges.

I spoke to them about what God had to say about them, their life and their future. I bought this person a bible and took them to church where they dedicated their life to Jesus Christ. I could see the flicker of faith in their eyes and watched that flicker extinguish in a short period of time afterwards.

When I would talk to this person, they would be truly interested in the word of God but because they had failed so many time previously, those that knew their failures best would tell this person that they would fail with God too. In fact, the uncle of this person told everyone that he was starting a family betting pool as to when this young Christian would “fall off the wagon” and openly mocked their faith at family gatherings. Over one year later, this person still lives at the home of their parents, doesn’t go to church but I hear from others that they are still working. This young Christian didn’t have a chance to develop Godly knowledge so as to answer the uncle in faith. The word of God must be learned, where as the skepticism of the world comes naturally.

This is an example of the seed falling on barren soil that when it tried to grow, the weeds around it choked it off. On the surface, my efforts appear to have failed. I believe that this person could hold that seed in storage and someday be in a position to revisit their salvation and again pick up the mantle of faith and plant good seed themselves and possibly start to change the minds of those family members who, on the surface any way, wish them spiritual harm .

My pastor tells a story of how a lifetime drug addict who had stolen from his family and ruined his relationships with everyone he knew because of his drug addiction, accepted Jesus Christ as his savior and made an immediate change for the better in his life. He went to everyone he had hurt to make amends and to tell them about how Jesus had changed his life. Free of drugs for the first time in his whole life, the young man went to see his mother, thinking how pleased she would be to see her son whole again. When he explained to her what a change that God had made in his life, his mother told him that she would rather see him be a drug addict than a “Jesus freak”.

It is hurtful to believe that sometimes those who know us the best have the hardest time seeing the goodness that Jesus brings into our lives and how much our life can change. Our closest family members know our weaknesses and past sins. My own sisters and brother, who I know love me and I them, have a hard time accepting me as a faithful person. I asked one of them to read this book/blog and they told me that they didn’t like to read “religious” things. I think that they only see the flawed man that I am and the change in my life is viewed as temporary insanity. I meet friends from my past who have known me for years and their reaction to my testimony of Jesus Christ is, “not you, you have got to be kidding me, I never thought ...” all of the time remembering an experience that we had together in my sinful past.

Even other Christians can be the proverbial “stony” or “weed infested” planting ground. Your own pastor may not be very nurturing and judgmental regarding your sincerity or fellow church members may be a more sterile than the secular world. Our job is to move forward and plant seed and even though we may not reach those around us, God will send another behind us and the former rocky and weed infested landscape will be a fertile opportunity for the word to grow.