Have you ever wondered why God seems to bless others more than you? At times, I know I do. Sometimes it seems I put more effort and heart into seeking God than those around me yet they seem to get more blessings. They seem to get more from reading scripture, more from being generous, more from prayer and just about any other Christian discipline.
Recently the pastor of the church I attend spoke about something that Jesus taught his disciples that should have caught their attention concerning spiritual growth and power.
Mark 4:1-3
Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. There was such a large crowd along the shore that he got into a boat and sat down and spoke from there. He began to teach the people by telling many stories such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed.
The teaching on the parable of the “Sower & Seed” was explained as a key illustration in understanding how God thinks and why some people seem more blessed in their lives. Jesus always taught the multitudes using the method of parables for a good reason and it wasn’t because the people were so simple they couldn’t understand complex theology or couldn’t understand solid reasoning and logic. At the end of each parable teaching Jesus would get alone with his disciples, those who were committed practically and in their hearts, to explain the parables. If you read the whole account Jesus actually told the disciples he was concealing the true meaning of the stories so that those who were not serious about transformation and discipleship would think the parables were just stories one might share over a camp fire. Note what Jesus says about the parables when the disciples can’t understand what he is getting at.
Mark 4:9-12
“Jesus then said … Anyone who is willing to hear should listen and understand!”
Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him, “What do your stories mean?” He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret about the Kingdom of God. But I am using these stories to conceal everything about it from outsiders, so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:
‘They see what I do, but they don’t perceive its meaning.
They hear my words, but they don’t understand.
So they will not turn from their sins and be forgiven.’
Everything in scripture is meant to be seen through the lens of humility and not pride. If a person approaches the scriptures with a proud heart the meaning is hidden. How many of us before coming to Christ would say the scriptures didn’t make much sense, but after surrendering to God discovered the same scripture now had meaning and purpose? It’s the work of the Holy Spirit to either reveal or obscure the meaning of the Word.
Psalms 10:17
O LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will strengthen their heart, You will incline Your ear
James 4:6
6But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
Jesus gave the disciples a warning about discovering and understanding the scripture. He told them that this one parable is a key to understanding all the parables because it talks about the problem of the human heart. I think so often we are confused concerning what really moves the hand of God to release blessing. We often capitalize on truth but all too often it is truth out of order.
Let me illustrate with the example of putting together a gas grill that one might buy at Lowes or Home Depot. When you used to buy them they came unassembled. You could buy them assembled but there was an additional charge and therefore most buyers figured they could assemble such a simple device. Back when I was in my 20s I, like most men, had some experience working on projects at home but today not so much. These stores got so many returned grills they decided to just include the assembly into the price without telling the customers. Today, you see the grills ready to go in front of the store. When I put things like gas grills or bikes for my kids together I often would just throw the instruction manuals to the side and start putting the item together, but when I got close to the end I discovered there always seemed to be that one part that you had to start with or else the thing didn’t work. Here I was a certified auto mechanic realizing how foolish I was in thinking I was smart enough that I didn’t need instructions. Many men today suffer from the foolishness of thinking they don’t need instruction and guidance. We are just like that with God. We think we are smart enough without God’s help except on the BIG things. How foolish we can be.
Mark 4:13
“But if you can’t understand this story, how will you understand all the others I am going to tell?
Jesus is telling the disciples and all who will follow him that the soils of our hearts determine the outcome of the seed. This parable talks about four kinds of soil and only one type of seed. The soils condition predetermines the outcome of the fruitfulness of the seed. If our hearts have lots of distractions and demands on our life then the word of God will have little affect on us and our journey with Him. How unfortunate to know the creator of the universe yet be so stilted in our Christian life. How sad for us and our family to reap a life of barrenness when we could have an abundant life.
John 10:10
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
Sowing and reaping in this life has so much to do with the conditions of our hearts. When it comes to God’s blessing God looks at not only the actions of our lives, but also the reasons for those actions. Our motives matter a lot to God. He know that motives shape the reasons we do what we do. From my experience, motives are very hard to detect correctly. The scripture says man looks at the outward whereas God looks at the motives of the heart. The way we can correctly know our hearts motives are as follows.
Questions:
1) Does your life reflect the same pattern as Jesus ? – He is our ultimate example
2) Do we read the Word daily to discover what values we should have? – If we don’t read we can’t discover
3) Do we have discerning people in our lives to help us stay on track with scriptural values? – Get a mentor
May God help us to offer our hearts to the Holy Spirit for regular cleaning and filling.
Pastor Dale
This is so true! Sometimes I think we don’t even realize what you said about “our hearts have lots of distractions and demands on our life then the word of God will have little affect on us and our journey with Him. How unfortunate to know the creator of the universe yet be so stilted in our Christian life. How sad for us and our family to reap a life of barrenness when we could have an abundant life.” The fact alone that it could affect not just myself, but my family as well, is overwhelming to me. Lord, help me to keep my focus on you and not get so distracted by the demands of this world. How easy it is to let our priorities slip out of order….when our goal is to become more like Him! ~ Thank you Pastor Dale for your faithfulness to sharing the Word!
Cindy
The great blessing is knowing our Havenly Father loves when we realize where we are and where we aren’t so that we can ask for his help. The enemy would love to keep us burdened down with our failures and shortcoming. Don’t let yesterday keep you from your now walk with Jesus!