Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures ofthis life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience. (Luke 8:11-15)
All of our lives, God puts people in our paths to tell us of his love for us, remind us that there is still time to be planted in the word and to warn us that the end is fast approaching and that we need to decided now which "seed" we are. Satan is desperately scrambling to build an army to further his cause. Again - God wins!
I learned along time ago that I should not tell God what I will and will not do. He has a way of making me eat my words. I find that is true for most Christians. The parable of the sower tells us exactly which "seed" we are if we are honest enough with ourselves. Some of us, at one time or another, were all of the seeds. As an early "born again believer", I was the seed on the rock - I experienced the joy of the word, but I was unable to stand fast in it and fell away. Later on, I became the seed in the thorns (for about 20 years) - the pleasures and money of this life overtook my desire to be what I was being called to be. Finally, the seed on good soil. I still have a problem with patience (I'm generally a go-get-it type of person). Keeping true to ALL of God's word is not as difficult as it seems, when you have accepted that this is what he desires of us! Sure, we make mistakes and we stumble, sometimes without even realizing it, until it is pointed out to us that we aren't.
Wanting to worship comes from knowing who it is you are worshiping. In order for anyone to understand the joy that overtakes you causing you to lift your hands in praise, they have to experience that same joy! On one of my birthdays, my ex-husband bought me tickets to my favorite artist's concert - I took 3 friends with me. They had "heard" this keyboard genius and knew who he was, but when the music started, they sat in their seats. With each and every song, at the first few notes, I instinctively knew which song he was playing, and my joy continued to grow throughout the performance. The reason I was so excited and they just "enjoyed the show" was that I owed every album, audio cassette and CD he ever recorded. I knew every word to every song, I'd played every song (or tried to anyway), I knew his life history, his struggles and his successes. I was a fan!
That is what I feel when I pray, when I worship, when I lift my hands in praise at what God does in my life and the lives of my friends. I get excited when I know I get to go to church on Sunday (and doubly excited when I know I don't have to work on Sunday night and get to go twice). I sometimes spend hours preparing to tell 1 and 2 years olds that "God made the sun" (which is tonight's Awana lesson). I love my prayer time - it puts me in an "I talk...God listens" conversation with him, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit! Become a REAL fan of "I talk...God listens" ~ his "notes" are much more profound and beautiful than anything I could ever come up with...they're in a book that bears the title "The Holy Bible"!
