The Parable of the Sower or Soils

The bible reading for today includes more in Leviticus. This I have talked about the last two days. But, Today my interest was piqued by the following parable from Mark. The Parable of the Sower 4 Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake. 2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it did not have sufficient root, it withered. 7 Other seed fell among the thorns, and they grew up and choked it, and it did not produce grain. 8 But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing; some yielded thirty times as much, some sixty, and some a hundred times.” 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear had better listen!” The Purpose of Parables 10 When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He said to them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, 12 so that although they look they may look but not see, and although they hear they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.” 13 He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any parable? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them. 16 These are the ones sown on rocky ground: As soon as they hear the word, they receive it with joy. 17 But they have no root in themselves and do not endure. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 Others are the ones sown among thorns: They are those who hear the word, 19 but worldly cares, the seductiveness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing.20 But these are the ones sown on good soil: They hear the word and receive it and bear fruit, one thirty times as much, one sixty, and one a hundred.” Reading through this I became curious about why? Why doesn’t everyone receive and act on the message the same way? Why are the soil and climate conditions affecting the result? Do you think the world is getting better? Do you think everything in the United States is like it should be or like you would want it to be? Do you think someone should do something about the problems? Do you think there is someone wise enough and powerful enough to make things right? Verse 12 above implies that I’m part of the problem. Jesus told the disciples “..so they may not repent and be forgiven.” Do you feel like you need to repent and be forgiven? Repent for what and be forgiven for what? If the word of God has come to you or does come to you, how will you receive it? First of all, what is the Word? In John’s gospel the very first chapter and verse says, “In the beginning there was the Word and the Word was with God”. I think all people are seeking the Word. It is not possible for humans to fully know the Word. God is working on all of us. He was working on me a long time before I realized it. I was willing to seek and try to understand more well before I became committed to the endeavor. Some people seem to be more skeptical. Others, more enthusiastic. Seems like Jesus knew this and is explaining it here to His disciples. Some are seemingly more prepared to receive the Word. I wonder, is there anyone who is not being pursued by God? Being pursued by God could be frightening to someone who doesn’t know Him at all. What I see in the world are many angry people. But, we seem to be angry about what is happening around us and blaming others. Verse 12 implies that I might be the problem. When trying to solve problems we have been told not to try and control people and things we have not control over. It is a futile effort. Who do we have control over? Maybe employees, children, slaves…maybe not! There are places in the Bible that tell us to correct or brothers and sisters. It does say to do it kindly and gently. There is more in the Bible about loving others. Could loving include correcting gently? Perhaps! Anyway, these verses somehow seemed important enough to think about and meditate about. Prayerful consideration might be good.

Comments for February 18, 2014

What is the opposite of selfish? Do you find, like I have, that it seems important for me to have certain things? Sometimes it is something I didn’t have just a short time before. And, it had not occurred to me that I had a particular need for it. That must be the reason for so much concern over things we lose. Some times I can’t find something like my car keys. My wife Grace might say, “Well just use mine”. That doesn’t correct the situation for me. My keys are still lost and I need to find them now. Being careful with our possessions is a good practice. But, why are we compelled to keep every thing where we know its location? In this world, every thing we possess comes from God. In fact it is pretty much on loan from God. Without God none of this would exist. Now, I know some of you don’t believe it. Some of you believe this earth was just an accident and whatever we have came to us by our own hard work. Even so, does it make a difference to take care of things for our own benefit vs taking care of things for the benefit of all mankind, Its like being a good neighbor. We all appreciate a good neighbor who is generous with his stuff and would do anything to help us when we are in difficulty. I think the opposite of selfish is generous. Both of these terms have to do with real stuff. Is it our stuff?

Thoughts for February 17, 2014

I have been reading the Bible most days and today I am up to date for 2/17/2014. But, journaling and documenting my thoughts has not been a priority. I seem to be busy with things such as a sore foot, the MCYM banquet, a trip to Williamsburg and the State of Kansas not liking my 2012 tax return. Also, we are trying to get ready for a Young Life Fund raiser 3/15/2014. It would be good to raise about $50,000 for the upcoming year. If any of you want to help, I would be very grateful. Still, what is most important in life. What is the purpose and reason for life, for your life and my life? It is very hard to believe this beautiful place just happened by accident. How could anything so majestic and magnificent be created out of nothing by nobody? There just has to be a very big and powerful God. I can find no other cause. Nothing else makes any sense. So, if there is a God, there must be a how and a why! How many things do you do that just seem to happen without any thought? Do plans make things work better? Can you get an expected result without having an expectation? Whenever I watch a sporting event, I pick a side or player to root for. There have been lots of events in Sochi this week. The Olympic games are so great. I marvel at the dedication of these athletes. When you get sick or have a sprain or broken bone or get a sunburn what kind of actions do you take? Do you try to get healing or relief or both? Or, do you just enjoy the misery and the pain? I’ve spent the last eight months trying find a reason and cure for my sore foot. It is relentless. I want desperately to be well. That must be why God spend so much time explaining to the Israelites how to take care of sin. He describes preventive cures, cures for intentional sin and cures for accidental sin. The processes are complex and elaborate. Perhaps human beings don’t function well if they don’t use the design parameters for operating in this world? And, it appears that taking no action and hiding the mistakes are a bad idea. God spends an inordinate amount of time and words presenting His position on these destructive activities. Under the old covenant there was no way to remove our sins. But, it does seem that in order to grow and be stronger better people it was necessary to admit sin and make atonement for the actions. If we try to hide it or hold it in, we will perish. Under the new covenant the sins are some how mysteriously removed by the sacrifice of the perfect lamb of God. Jesus paid our penalty so that we could return to being acceptable to God. God loved us but could not accept us because we were defiled. So God in His Word has explained how we are to act. We are to try to act justly, and love mercy and walk humbly with our God. To do this we need to admit and reveal who we are and not hide anything from God. So how do we do the first and most important command. Love the Lord your God with all of you. Don’t hold back anything. Jesus told us to do this to our neighbors. By loving and caring for our neighbors we show and declare our love for God. It is impossible to love our neighbors if we don’t know our neighbors. And, to do that we must have a deep and intimate relationship. We need to know all their faults and gifts and they need to know ours. Let go, let loose, be a complete friend. No show, all real. We must confess and be humble. We must accept our neighbor, faults and all. Thank you Lord for this wisdom and guidance.

Bible Reading Comments for February 4, 2014

What is common sense? Many books have been written on this subject. Everyone seems to have an opinion about their own common sense and most of us think we have common sense. Try to compare common sense to right and wrong or good and bad. Do we like to be right? Do we like to be good? If I read the Bible, will I learn how to be right and good? Will that improve my common sense? The teachings of Jesus often seem to be upside down. Poor is better than rich. Money is bad. Don’t hit back, turn the other cheek. Give the thief your other shirt or coat. Jesus associated more with the down and out than he did with the influential folks. What is involved in a healthy well balanced life? There are some factors we mention often with respect to being well. The first I think of is a healthy body. Having a healthy body is important to us. Everyone has some health defect. How many times have you heard, “He hadn’t been to a doctor once in his life time”? What are the life factors we want to have healthy? I can think of four. Physical, Mental, Emotional and Financial. How would health be defined for these factors? Christ said He did not come to save the righteous, He came to save the unrighteous. Then I have read in the book that no one is righteous, not one. When I write I often lecture or preach. When I hear people lecturing or preaching I compare what they say to what I believe to be true. In other words, I judge them. Jesus told us not to judge. We are to wait and let the Father be the judge. There I go preaching again. Ignore that. Are you ever uncomfortable about those forwarded emails describing some good act. At the end you are always encouraged to forward them to 10 or 25 friends. Do you do it? Most of the time I don’t forward them. I’m not sure why i don’t. So where do I find good and health? Seems to me I have found these things in the words and actions of people. People who Jesus said are not righteous. Maybe I should be more thankful for friends and family. Maybe I should pay more attention to what they say and do. Maybe I should not be so judgmental. Maybe I should try to discover what God (Our Father in Heaven) is trying to tell me through this great and valuable relationships. Maybe I should spend more time nurturing and cultivating the friends I have. These friends are a treasure. These are all gifts from a loving Father. If I have not treasured you enough, I’m sorry and I have suffered for my neglect. I pray that I have not hurt you. You are my most valuable treasure. I wanted to say, valuable possession. That would really be selfish. Speaking of selfish, leads us in another direction on this business of goodness and health. I’ve said before,”Try to write a 500 word essay on ‘How humble you are’”. Is it possible to construct such a document? One of my favorite preacher/teachers is Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Church in Manhattan. He doesn’t even know me. We have never met. He says most people’s and most religion’s concept of good is based on doing what pleases us and makes us feel good. Only Christ sets a different standard or foundation for good ethics and actions. This standard is based on charity or generosity. In order to give we have to give up. Charity and forgiveness are not free. They are very costly. The greatest gift was from Christ who gave His life for me to pay the penalty for my sins while I was still a sinner. Sorry, this sounds like preaching again. Ignore me when I go there. I’m try to reflect on goodness and it is so easy to get off the track. Why do I not want to admit that I am a sinner. I am the example of unrighteousness. I need to spend more time and more effort with charity, generosity and forgiveness. I need to spend less time thinking about my welfare and more time thinking about the welfare of my treasures. My treasures are not for my possession but they are gifted in wonderful relationships by God. Friends and family are the closest treasures. My wife is my most precious treasure.

Bible Reading Comments from Sun Lakes, AZ 2/2/14

Ground Hog day. We will be headed home to Dillon this week. Probably Thursday. Lots to do when we get back. Readings are in Exodus 16, Mathew 22, Psalm 27 and Proverbs 6 We learned all about manna and its distribution. More about the nature of the Kingdom of Heaven. Living in the Temple of the Lord and the importance of leading an obedient life. It is interesting and ironic how we view gifts from God. The Manna was to be gathered everyday and just enough for that day. Except for the sixth day when the people were told to gather twice the amount, enough for the Sabbath day of rest. The main concern of the people was getting their fair share. Thankfulness did not seem to be the highest priority. Some even tried to gather more than their share. Guess what, the excess spoiled. It didn’t matter how much they gathered, it was always enough. Where are your priorities? Remember the questions. Who are you? Where did you come from? Why are you here? And, Where are you going? Sustaining yourself while you are here isn’t one of the questions. Is this the attitude that caused us to fall? Are we focused on the wrong thing? What is the main thing? Read these verses and think about the information. Who is this God? Why am I here? What is my relationship with God supposed to be? Is it important to know who sent you and why? Or, do you just pick yourself up and try to exist?